By Peter Omopo
Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa (retd.), on Monday visited President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, amid heightened national security concerns and ongoing counter-insurgency operations across the country.
Musa, who arrived the State House at 7:03 p.m. dressed in dark-green traditional attire, was escorted into the President’s office wing by a senior security official. The visit marks his first public engagement with President Tinubu since his retirement on October 24, 2025. The purpose of the meeting, however, was not immediately disclosed.
The visit comes at a time the Federal Government is implementing sweeping security measures following President Tinubu’s declaration of a nationwide state of emergency on security. The measures include the recruitment of 20,000 additional police personnel, deployment of forest guards, and enhanced protection for schools, churches, mosques, and other vulnerable locations. Security agencies have also been directed to intensify joint operations in hotspot regions across the North-West and North-Central.
The escalated response follows a surge in coordinated attacks in recent weeks. At least 490 people have been abducted in a 13-day wave of kidnappings involving schoolchildren, worshippers, travellers, traditional rulers, and even a bride, with major incidents recorded in Kebbi, Kwara, and Niger states.
General Musa, a member of the 38th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy, was appointed CDS by President Tinubu in June 2023 and confirmed by the Senate shortly after. He served until the October 2025 defence reshuffle that brought Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede to the top military post.
Meanwhile, another former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd.), has firmly denied claims that repentant Boko Haram fighters are being recruited into the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Irabor said there was no basis for such allegations, describing them as entirely unfounded.
“It has always been a burden for me where we got this impression from. How can they be recruited? This does not exist,” he stated.
Irabor argued that his years in command and leadership positions across the military made the claims even more implausible, stressing that the recruitment structure of the Armed Forces does not permit such practices.
Security analysts say both developments—the closed-door meeting at the Villa and Irabor’s rebuttal—underscore ongoing public anxiety over national security, following multiple high-profile abductions and the government’s push to restore stability across affected regions.
