Shettima Tells Military To Maintain Pressure On Terrorists, Says Progress Not Victory

Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged military commanders to sustain coordinated pressure on terrorist groups while strengthening intelligence, technology and civil-military cooperation to consolidate gains in the North-East.

He stressed that while significant progress had been recorded in degrading terrorist capabilities, progress must not be mistaken for final victory.

Shettima gave the charge in Abuja at the public presentation” on Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency Operations in North East Nigeria”, volumes 1 and 2, written by Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Yusuf Rtd. Yusuf was a Force Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force and Commandant, Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), among other commanding appointments while in service.

Shettima, represented by the Special Adviser to the President on General Duties, Dr Aliyu Modibbo, urged commanders to remain vigilant and adaptive.

According to Nigeria’s security challenges, a comprehensive, whole-of-society approach involving the military, intelligence services, policymakers, and civilians is required.

The Vice President noted that the Nigerian Armed Forces had continued to demonstrate resilience and professionalism in the face of complex asymmetric threats.

“What Nigeria has endured in recent years is not evidence of a nation overwhelmed by danger, but a reflection of the resilience and courage of Nigerians who continue to stand firm in defence of a shared destiny,” he said. Shettima said the North-East crisis remained both a security challenge and a humanitarian tragedy, adding that it underscored the need for sustained vigilance against violent extremism.

He emphasised that counterterrorism operations must be understood through the lived experiences of frontline personnel, whose testimonies, he said, provide critical lessons for future policy and strategy.

The Vice President commended the author of the book for documenting operational experiences and strategic lessons from the theatre of operations, describing the publication as”on as “timely and important to national security discourse. He stressed that the work would help correct misinformation and deepen understanding of the complexity of counterinsurgency operations in.