Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mohammad Badaru Abubakar, resigned from office as the country battles renewed banditry, mass abductions and deadly attacks across several northern states, a development confirmed by a statement from President Bola Tinubu’s media adviser, Bayo Onanuga, who said the President accepted his resignation and commended him for his service, while presidency sources cited health concerns as the reason for his departure.
His exit comes amid escalating insecurity, including the kidnapping of 25 students in Kebbi State and about 300 students in Niger State, alongside bandit attacks in parts of Sokoto, Kogi and Kwara states, which have intensified public anxiety over the government’s response. In a recent interview with the BBC, Badaru insisted security agencies were working “day and night” to tackle the resurgence of school kidnappings and other crimes.
The past week alone recorded the kidnapping of at least 10 people, including a bride and her companions, in Sokoto State, the abduction of a pastor and his wife in Kogi State, and the killing of three Nigeria Immigration Service officials at a checkpoint in Katsina State.
The violence has also unfolded against the backdrop of diplomatic tensions following claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that Christians were being targeted in Nigeria, prompting Abuja to dispatch a delegation led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu to Washington to stress that insecurity cuts across all faiths, as Badaru’s resignation marks another major shake-up within a security architecture struggling to contain both Boko Haram in the Northeast and armed bandit groups nationwide.