President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently holding an emergency security meeting with top military commanders, intelligence chiefs, and the Inspector-General of Police at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The closed-door meeting, which began around 2:00 pm on Monday, is the first major engagement on the President’s schedule since his return from Bayelsa State last Friday.
Those in attendance include the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Staff, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu, and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
The high-level session comes amid growing security concerns across the country, including a recent United States advisory authorising the voluntary departure of non-emergency embassy staff from Abuja due to what it described as a “deteriorating security situation.”
The advisory also placed 23 Nigerian states under a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” warning, citing threats from insurgents in the Northeast, armed criminal gangs in the Northwest, and ongoing violence in parts of the South and Southeast.
The Nigerian government has dismissed the warning as an internal classification system, insisting that most parts of the country remain stable despite isolated security challenges.
Minister of Information Mohammed Idris said the advisory does not reflect a general breakdown of law and order.
The meeting is also taking place in the aftermath of a controversial Nigerian Air Force operation in Borno State that reportedly killed over 100 civilians during an airstrike targeting suspected Boko Haram fighters in the Jilli axis along the Borno–Yobe border.
The Air Force described the operation as a “precision mop-up airstrike” against terrorist positions, without directly addressing civilian casualty claims. However, rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called for an independent investigation and criticised what they described as a lack of safeguards for civilian lives.
The Presidency has defended the operation, with Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Temitope Ajayi stating that the targeted location was being used as a logistics hub by Boko Haram and ISWAP militants.
Security analysts say the meeting reflects mounting pressure on the government as Nigeria continues to face multiple security threats, including insurgency in the Northeast, banditry and kidnappings in the Northwest and North-Central regions, and separatist-related violence in the Southeast.
According to reports, military air operations have resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties in recent years, raising ongoing concerns about intelligence failures and coordination gaps between ground and air forces.
As of press time, the security meeting was still ongoing, with vehicles conveying top security officials still seen parked at the Presidential Villa.
