Major General Adamu Garba Laka: With 505 Convictions, We’re Almost Getting to End of Insurgency, Violent Extremism, and Terrorism

During a brief conversation on the sidelines of the just concluded 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Major General Adamu Garba Laka, the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre shared exclusive insights with Chiemelie Ezeobi on the progress of Nigeria’s fight against insurgency and terrorism. He also discussed the ongoing efforts to establish a national centralised forensic database, which promises to revolutionise crime-fighting in the country. With 505 convictions secured against insurgents and terrorists, Major General Laka believes Nigeria is edging closer to defeating insurgency, violent extremism, and terrorism. Having risen through the ranks and served in several tactical and operational commands, the General is no stranger to the fight against insurgency. He has participated in the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and United States Africa Command Exercise for West African Armed Forces in Senegal. His expertise also extends to major operations within Nigeria, including Operation RESTORE ORDER III, Operation BOYONA, Operation ZAMAN LAFIYA, and Operation LAFIYA DOLE

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 Can you tell us exactly what your job at the National Counter Terrorism Centre entails and a quick rundown of what you have done since assumption of office?

The National Counter Terrorism Centre is in charge of coordinating the Nation’s counterterrorism efforts. Basically, that’s what we do. I assumed office in April 2024. Initially, I was the Special Adviser to the National Security Adviser on Inter-Agency Operations. Before my assumption of duty, I conducted the Strategic Defence Partnership with the United Kingdom at the office of the National Security Adviser. This is aimed at improving security and defence partnership between Nigeria and United Kingdom. We also held a High-level African Counterterrorism Meeting, which brought together about 32 African countries and international partners, UN entities, and civil society organisations. The aim of that meeting was to look for African solutions to African problems on counterterrorism. Africa is slowly becoming the epicentre of terrorist organisations. We have seen a lot of influx of terrorists from Al Qaeda, Daish, and so on into Africa due to the various ungoverned spaces. These groups are slowly moving down coastal West Africa. You must have heard of recent incidents in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali. In Mali, terrorists even attacked the international airport. At the end of the conference, there was the Abuja declaration, which came up with recommendations on how to address the African problem, and part of it was making the National Counter Terrorism Centre a Regional Centre of Excellence for West Africa and the Sahel. In West Africa, we have the Counter Terrorism Academy in Abidjan, which focuses more on the kinetic aspect of countering terrorism. They train troops in the fight and deploy them to the field.

Similarly, there is the Kofi Anan International Peacekeeping Centre, then the National Counter Terrorism Centre in Nigeria. With our vast experience in the fight against terrorism, we are looking at focusing more on the preventive aspects. If the root causes of terrorism are addressed, then the kinetic aspect would not be necessary. We plan to partner our brother African countries and those in the Sahel on how to prevent, violent extremism and terrorism. We also plan to partner various institutions, the African Union and Counter Terrorism Centre in Abidjan and various regional bodies in Africa to pull capacity together, organise conferences, meetings, and workshops on how to prevent violent extremism, and address the threats of terrorism within the country and region.

Since I assumed office, I found out that there are lots of capabilities in the centre that have not been functional. We have various departments such as the Department of Intelligence, which collates intelligence from various security agencies, analyse them, and the output of that is sent to the appropriate security agency to address. We have the Department of Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and as the name implies, they liaise with various international organisations and state governments on how to address, prevent and counter violent extremism. We have the Department of Technical Services, which is in charge of the control and movement of fertiliser, explosives, and chemicals within the country. As you know, fertiliser, urea, in particular has been controlled in the North-eastern part of Nigeria because it is being used for Improvised Explosive Devices. The Department is also in charge of the manufacture and movement of fertiliser, ensuring that they get to the right place and there is no proliferation of same in the market-that is control of chemicals because we know what chemicals could be used for explosives. 

Additionally, we have the Department of Legal, which is in charge of the prosecution of terrorism financiers and terrorists. There are a lot of terrorists from the North-east and North-west detained at the Kainji detention facility. Nigeria firmly upholds the rule of law, and as such, individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty. So, the Department of Legal liaises with the Ministry of Justice, and Director of Public Prosecution. We have conducted six phases of this trial with about 505 convictions of these terrorists, while those who are acquitted are moved to Operation Safe Corridor for rehabilitation and subsequent reintegration into the society. Since the acquitted detainees have been kept with high level risk terrorists, we rehabilitate them at the Operation Safe Corridor first. For those who are found not to have been involved, we have a reintegration process in place. This includes psychological counselling, vocational training, and providing them with starter packs to help them reintegrate into their communities and rebuild their lives. Right, we are about to start a new phase of the trials.

We also have various forensic laboratories which have been dormant in the NCTC but we are now working closely with our international partners, in particular, the United States to make those laboratories functional and develop a database. The laboratories are toxicology labs, fingerprint labs, DNA labs, digital data extraction labs, bulk drug labs, handwriting labs, explosives lab, ballistic labs. Each of these laboratories have a role to play in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism. Furthermore, we had a lot of captured women and girls from when terrorism started back in 2009 coming out with pregnancy. With time, there will be a lot of children without fathers. But if once we can build that database, DNA database and fingerprint database, these things could be used to trace people who make explosives, who are the fathers of these orphans, and so on. 

Since I took over the centre, I have been working tirelessly to develop a national database and ensure these facilities are fully functional. The laboratories are also open for use by all security agencies. We currently have the Defence Intelligence Agency, Department of State Security, and the Police sending exhibits to the laboratories for analysis. Simply bring in what needs to be analysed, and we will handle the rest. We do not even need to see the results as long as it serves the country’s best interests, that is what truly matters. We are already about 60 per cent functional from the dormant stage I met it. We hope that before the end of First Quarter 2025, our laboratories will be fully functional. The laboratories are staffed from various agencies across board. Also, we are reaching out to all Nigerian security agencies to be part of this. We need all to be part of it. With such synergy and cooperation, the sky will be our limit.

That is a really commendable initiative. However, talking about terrorism financing, what is the key role you play in this because if you do not cut terrorism at the roots, it is as if we are playing. So how do you think we can tackle the issue of people financing these terrorists? 

 Initially, most security agencies were working in isolation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Police. However, Nigeria is on the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force and the only way we can get off this list is if these investigations are done collectively by all security agencies. So, on my resumption of office, I had a meeting with the Director General of the NFIU, Hafsat Bakari and the National Security Adviser and we formed a Task Force based in the National Counter Terrorism Centre. The Task Force is made up of all security agencies that are involved in the investigation of terrorism financing. Luckily, we are in good terms with the FBI, who sends us intelligence on terrorism financing which is then being used by the Task Force. They investigate and send the cases to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution. During the last trial, we had over 80 to 85 convictions on terrorism financing and the number is still going up. We are working together, and the aim is to get Nigeria off the grey list. We will get there by God’s grace.

So, another commendable thing you mentioned earlier was the issue of centralised database. This will certainly change the trajectory of the fight against terrorism. How holistic is that move? 

Right now, we have the National Cybercrime Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, headed by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and they have built a certain database. What they have is like an Octopus, whereby every security agency’s data should be plugged in. Not that we do not have data in Nigeria, but every agency holds its own data. So, we have established a means of getting everything to the Octopus. But still, the National Counter Terrorism Centre has to build its own database, which will include biometrics, facial recognition, DNA. Currently, banks have our fingerprints, the Nigerian Immigration Service too have our fingerprints, pictures, BVN and NIN. We have all these already but the Centre needs to go deeper to build the database for DNA and biometrics.

So once the National Counter Terrorism Centre has the database, although it will still be connected to the one in the National Cybercrime Centre, we will be able to have a database of known criminals. This one is not of Nigerians but one of known criminals. We plan to visit all detention facilities and police stations to collect data on individuals with criminal records. This data will be integrated into the National Counter Terrorism Centre database and connected to the National Cybercrime Centre. This way, whenever a crime occurs, the first step will be to run it through this centralised database, significantly increasing the chances of identifying the perpetrator.

If this works out, that will bring another dimension to tackling criminality. Tying it to the issue of kidnapping for ransom, which is now a new cash cow in Nigeria, how will this database help in nabbing these criminals that seemingly have easy access in collecting money and even crypto from families of victims?

 You definitely have to communicate to someone to ask for ransom. So definitely, the phone number matters. What the various telecomm industry has been trying to do right from time is to ensure everybody who has a SIM Card is registered with his NIN and so on. Just before the last protest, the Nigerian Communications Commission blocked some lines that are not registered and there was a wide outcry. Nigerians need to understand that these measures need to be done to address security threats. With this system in place, if someone makes a ransom call, we will be able to identify the person behind it. Even if they use someone else’s number, we have methods to trace and uncover their identity. 

So, are you going to synergise with the telecommunications industry on that or is it already in motion?

We are presently in talks with the Nigerian Communications Commission. The National Security Adviser had a meeting with the head of the organisation and that asked the Nigerian Communications Commission to give a deadline due to the outcry. Nigerians need to understand that when certain things are done, it is for their interest. The National Security Adviser understands the dynamics that need to be addressed. So, Nigerians have to be patient with the government.

You have been at the North-east so you know all the lows, the highs. So how have you brought that experience to bear in your job now at the NCTC? 

Yes. I was in the North-east as a Commanding Officer of one of the battalions that was deployed close to Sambisa Forest in 2011. I spent one year and a half after which I came back to the Theatre Command in 2014, spent about six months, and I was posted out. I was asked to come back to the Theatre six months later as a Brigade Commander in Bama, which we all know was the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency and violent terrorism. I faced so many challenges as Brigade Commander because for every operation we conducted, we were coming out with over a 100 plus rescued people, entirely displaced persons. At a point, we had over 3,030,000 IDPs in the General Hospital in Bama. Initially, there was no coordination between the international organisations, UN entities, the forces, and the government. But luckily, the then Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima, who is presently the Vice President, was very accommodating and the state government played a big role with the international organisations in addressing the issues of IDPs. So, in that context, I was able to understand the dynamics that plays out.

I was basically there to fight Boko Haram, but I saw myself playing a humanitarian role in relating with the State Government and international partners, and it has come to play today. At the National Counter Terrorism Centre, I interface with the government (which I am part of), the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, international partners and UN entities. So, I understand the cocktail that needs to be mixed for there to be successes. As I said earlier, we have low-risk and high-risk insurgents being rehabilitated. So, I know what they need based on my experience.

I know what they have gone through and what needs to be done to be reintegrated into society and accepted by that society which they are going back into. And for the soldiers in the field, the security operatives, I am able to understand what operations need to be conducted, at what stage and how those who are captured needs to be handled, and so on. So, the experience I gained earlier really plays a big role. I understand the threats in the North-east and the North-west of the country, where banditry is really high. We know what the effect of Improvised Explosive Devices is on our troops in the field, who are doing a marvellous job.

Talking about the de-radicalisation and the integration of these Boko Haram suspects, and the controversy it has generated in the public domain especially with public perception being that they are rewarded for killing soldiers. How do you juxtapose that with the fact that some of them even end up being informants despite the
de-radicalisation process? 

First and foremost, Nigeria is signatory to a lot of conventions and international law states that they should not be killed if they surrender. Most of these insurgents or terrorists that we see today, did not join out of their free will. These insurgents came to these villages, captured young boys, and indoctrinated them. So eventually, these people are rescued or captured, and they tell us their stories. And a lot of them are ready to go back to the good ways. Now definitely, you have some bad eggs among them. So, it is not written on the head that this is a bad egg or so. At the end of the day, we do our part. I can tell you that the success rate of those that have been integrated is higher than those who are still playing double.  

We have pushed the insurgents to the limit that they have no capability than to be attacking soft targets unlike in 2014 whereby insurgents were taking over communities. Right now, they only depend on improvised explosive devices to attack troops. They go to innocent Nigerians and clear villages, but we are doing our part. We are not yet done, but we are almost there. Insurgency and terrorism, although we know it has no boundaries, we have done a good work so far. It took a bit long, but Rome was not built in a day.

We have currently recorded some coups by some nations in the West African region like Niger, of which we share border. Do you think this has pushed back the gains made in countering insurgency? 

 I do not think it has pushed back some of the gains. Those countries have their own problems as very country has its own internal issues. My only fear is that these countries feel that the Western powers are influencing a lot of things internally. However, those countries had a role they were playing that reduced the terrorist threat of terrorism. We are seeing what is happening today after the pulling out of the United States and France from Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali. These threats were not as much as they were. They had their reasons and we respect it as an African Country. Those countries leaving equally also has a negative effect. We are all brothers, and we feel that they should come back to equalise us. Let us work together as West African brothers and address the issues they are facing. 

Last month, I was part of the entourage of the Chief of Defence Staff (General Christopher Gwabin Musa) to Niger and we had fruitful discussion, but on a bilateral basis with the Chief of Defence Staff of Niger. We also signed an agreement whereby we need to come back together to secure our borders, and fight the threat that crosses our border. Nigeria shares a long line of border with Niger, and in the whole West Africa. More so, we have more relationship as they are part of us so we need to get that relationship back to secure our borders. 

Niger played a major role in the Multi-national Joint Task Force in Lake Chad Basin, so whatever happens to Niger has an effect on Nigeria. The same thing in Burkina Faso and Mali because it is a long stretch. If we allow those countries to fail, it will have an effect on Nigeria. So, our President, being the Chairman of the ECOWAS is doing everything within his powers to get them back to the table.

 One of the many major challenges facing the war against terrorism is misinformation and disinformation. What role do you think the media plays in all of these? 

 We know the role the media plays in a counterterrorism environment. We held two conferences and workshops for the media at the Centre. The first was with defence and security correspondence. This was aimed at ensuring effective reporting towards strengthening alternatives to terrorist ideology. We had that with defence and security correspondence. It was in collaboration with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Prevention. We also gave the correspondence the national perceptions of what we need them to do. We had another workshop with, news editors from various agencies, both print and electronic media. So, we know the importance of the media houses and information, misinformation, and disinformation. Basically, we are on the same page now. We let them know what has happened because if you do not, the insurgents or terrorists bring up theirs. Then that will be in the open space. Yes, we work closely with the media closely.

The Office of the National Security Adviser, National Counter Terrorism Centre and the National Cybercrime Centre have the Departments of Strategic Communication. So, we try as much as possible to give the story of whatever we do and whatever happens first before the other the negative part comes out. 

We also try to carry religious and traditional rulers along because they have a vital role to play. So, we bring the media houses, traditional rulers, and religious rulers to give them the government’s narrative of what happens. We are as truthful and transparent as possible in what we do. It is now up to the media to craft and report events responsibly, keeping in mind that the Armed Forces and security agencies are working for the Nation’s well-being. While there may be some bad eggs, they should not be encouraged. We must all prioritize the national interest because the success of Nigeria benefits all of us. I attended the National Defence Course in Pakistan, and I saw how fallen soldiers are immortalised. In Nigeria, we do not do the same. We just report numbers, and the individuals behind them remain unknown. Our soldiers and security agencies sacrifice daily for this country, and we need to show more respect for them. The media should do more to honour these individuals and their families with greater recognition. 

One of the issues in the fight against terrorism is issue of influx of small arms and weapons. I know there is a committee already on ground trying to mop up this. So, do you people have any role to play in that?

 Yes. the Office of National Security Advisor has an agency called the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons that is headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Babatunde Kokumo (Rtd), and they are doing a marvellous work. I know recently, in collaboration with the Nigerian Customs Service, we captured a lot of arms and drugs being brought in the into the country. They also keep a database of weapons that are illegally brought into the country. This goes back to the issue of porous borders. 

There has been a lot of influx of arms and light weapons and we are doing everything within the Office of National Security Adviser to ensure that these weapons are controlled. The Customs, Immigration, and Police are playing a big role also. We are doing our best to ensure that with intelligence from various agencies like National Intelligence Agency and, Department of State Service to control the influx of these weapons into the Country. I think the Director General of the National Centre for Control of Small and Arms and Light Weapons is in a better position to give you the picture of what they do there.

 I would like to know how you prioritise the welfare of your staff because a well-motivated workforce means efficient service delivery?

 The Office of the National Security Adviser takes care of its personnel very well, but note that the major welfare you can give an individual might not be money. It is to build capacity of that person. If a staff is seconded from his agency, for instance the Department of State Services, the Nigerian Police, or the Nigerian Army, to the National Counter Terrorism Centre, my goal is to ensure that by the time he returns to his agency, he is better trained and more equipped than when he came. So, I ensure that staff attend courses both internally and abroad to develop their capacities. In every aspect you think, we build capacities which we have gotten good feedbacks from these agencies. We also do the little we can in terms of monetary incentives and allowances. A little, but not as the public think. 

In this war against insurgency, violent extremism, and terrorism, where do you think we are heading as a country?

 We are almost getting to the end and I feel compared to where we were five or 10 years ago, Nigerians will be the best to judges. I thank Mr President, Commander-in-Chief, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Security Adviser for giving me this opportunity. I tell my staff always one thing, If we do not solve this problem now, we would leave that problem for our children or subordinates to come and solve. I would love to see a peaceful and secure Nigeria before I retire from the Service, which could be very soon. So, I would not want a situation whereby I leave the Service and I will be calling my junior colleague in my village that there is an issue of terrorists moving around, please send troops. No, the President has given me the knife and the yam. It is left for me to know what to do with it, and we are doing our best to ensure that before the end of this administration. We would solve that problem for a peaceful and secure Nigeria. 

About Major General Laka

Major General Adamu Garba Laka was born on 20 June 1973 in Ikoyi, Lagos State, and hails from Niger State. He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army on 21 September 1996 as a member of the 43 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Major General Laka has served in various units and held various command, staff and instructional appointments, some of which include Platoon Commander, Adjutant, Company Commander and Acting Commanding Officer Rear in 231 Tank Battalion Biu, Military Assistant to the General Officer Commanding 1 Division and also to the Military Secretary (Army).  He was a Directing Staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji and at the Army War College Abuja. During the heat of the Boko Haram Crisis, General Laka was the Commanding Officer of 202 Battalion in Bama. 

Due to his performance, gallantry and commitment to duty, he was posted back to the North-east to command a Brigade as a Colonel; an appointment meant for Brigadier Generals where his performance was exceptional. 

He holds Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Defence Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna, a Post Graduate Certificate in Diplomatic Law from the University of Malta and a Certificate in Security, Stability, Transition and Reconstruction from the George C Marshall European Institute of Security, Garmisch Germany.

 He also holds a Certificate in Electoral Violence from the United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC, a Master’s in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, a Certificate in Strategic Leadership from the Koffi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre, Ghana and a Master’s in National Security and War from the National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Major General AG Laka’s operational experience include United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the US African Command Exercise for West African Armed Forces in Senegal.  He has also participated in various operations within the Country, these include Operation RESTORE ORDER III, Operation ZAMAN LAFIYA, Operation BOYONA and Operation LAFIYA DOLE. 

The General also has various military, civil qualification and decorations. These include Passed Staff Course (Dagger), Fellow War College (Dagger), Meritorious Service Star, UN Medals from Sierra Leone and Congo DRC, Nigerian Army Purple Heart Medal, Chief of Army Staff Commendation Medal for Gallantry, Nigerian Army Command Medal, Nigerian Army Sports Medal and the Nigerian Army Field Command Medal.

Quotes

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The insurgents, we have pushed them to the limit that they have no capability than to be attacking soft targets not like way back in 2014 whereby insurgents were taking over communities. Right now, it is not longer that way. They are on the run

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Nigerians need to understand that when certain things are done, it’s for the interest of Nigerians. The NSA understands the dynamics that need to be addressed. So Nigerians have to be patient with the government and know that whatever the government is doing is for the interest of the country