The Federal Government has secured 1,721 terrorism-related convictions since the commencement of its Mass Trial Programme in October 2017, the Office of the National Security Adviser has said.
The Director of Legal Services at the ONSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, disclosed this on Thursday during a joint briefing by spokespersons of security, defence and law enforcement agencies in Abuja.
Mijinyawa said the programme, coordinated by the ONSA in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and security agencies, had completed 10 phases of terrorism trials.
He said the initiative had not only secured convictions but also ensured that suspects were discharged or acquitted where prosecutors failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt, in line with constitutional guarantees of fair hearing.
According to him, the first three phases of the programme, conducted between 2017 and 2018, recorded 366 convictions, 882 discharges, five acquittals and 61 adjourned cases.
He added that phases four to eight, held between 2023 and 2025, produced 490 convictions, including cases involving terrorism financing, international crimes, as well as sexual and gender-based violence.
Mijinyawa said phases nine and 10, conducted this year, accounted for 865 convictions, representing more than half of all terrorism convictions secured under the programme since its inception.
“The 865 convictions recorded in 2026 exceeded the combined total of 856 convictions secured during the preceding nine years of the programme,” he said.
He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring accountability for terrorism offences while upholding the rule of law and the constitutional rights of defendants.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters said troops neutralised 1,597 terrorists and other criminal elements, rescued 1,516 kidnapped victims and conducted 14,221 operations nationwide between January and June 2026.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Samaila Uba, who was represented by Group Capt. Kabiru Ali, said the operations involved coordinated land, air and maritime missions across several theatres of operation.
He said troops recovered 451 firearms, 16,726 rounds of ammunition, 161 explosives and improvised explosive devices, significantly degrading the operational capability of criminal groups.
According to him, the operations covered major security flashpoints in Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Katsina, Kwara, Zamfara, Sokoto, Plateau, Benue, Niger, Oyo and Kaduna states.
Uba added that troops rescued 261 kidnap victims from terrorist enclaves, killed 412 Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters, arrested 332 terrorists and recovered weapons, motorcycles and livestock.
He further disclosed that 132 Boko Haram and ISWAP members surrendered during the period due to sustained military pressure, while troops safely detonated 31 improvised explosive devices.
The defence spokesman also said the Armed Forces carried out 33 peacebuilding initiatives, 13 public sensitisation campaigns and 33 stakeholder engagements with traditional and religious leaders to strengthen civil-military relations.
He reaffirmed the military’s resolve to sustain operations against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, separatist violence and crude oil theft, urging Nigerians to continue providing credible intelligence to security agencies.
Also speaking, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Iniedu Okokon, said the Nigeria Police Force intensified intelligence-led operations across the country, leading to the arrest of thousands of criminal suspects, the rescue of kidnap victims and the recovery of arms and ammunition.
He said operatives of the Force Intelligence Department’s Intelligence Response Team arrested 50 suspects linked to terrorism, kidnapping and armed robbery, recovering 17 rifles, an anti-aircraft launcher and 111 rounds of ammunition.
Okokon added that the police dismantled a 33-member criminal network involved in terrorism, cattle rustling and violent attacks in Kwara State, while also arresting suspects connected with the murder of three police officers in Taraba State.
He further disclosed that police operatives rescued a kidnapped woman and her 12-year-old twin sons during an operation on June 6, neutralising two kidnappers and recovering two firearms.
According to him, enhanced border security also led to the interception of 181 rounds of ammunition along the Abuja-Kaduna corridor, while officers dismantled a railway vandalism syndicate and recovered about 60 tonnes of vandalised railway materials valued at approximately N400m.
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