General Musa had proposed the fencing of Nigeria’s borders — particularly the porous border with the Niger Republic — as a strategic measure to curb the influx of terrorists into the country. 

Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has condemned a recent suggestion by Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Christopher Musa, to solve insecurity, saying such comment is emblematic of failed leadership and poor strategic thinking.

General Musa had proposed the fencing of Nigeria’s borders — particularly the porous border with the Niger Republic — as a strategic measure to curb the influx of terrorists into the country. 

He had made the comments during an interview on Arise News where he emphasised that Nigeria’s location in the Sahel region made it the prime target for terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP.

“The main attraction to all these terrorists and bandits is Nigeria,” Musa said. “For us to be secure, it is important — let us fence our borders. Even if it’s expensive, what is money if you are dead?”

General Musa had argued that fencing critical areas, especially the Nigeria-Niger border, would help reduce the movement of terrorists and enable the use of advanced surveillance technologies like drones and cameras to ease manpower pressure on security forces.

However, Sowore, a pro-democracy advocate, dismissed the proposal as ludicrous and detached from Nigeria’s complex security and economic realities.

Taking to his verified social media platform, Sowore wrote, “According to Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Nigeria must promptly fence its entire border, when that fails we must then fence all the state borders and then local govt borders, then streets, sorry we already fenced all our houses. Foolish people!”

Only weeks ago, over 200 people were reportedly killed in Yelwata, a border community in Benue State, in a massacre blamed on foreign invaders believed to have entered through the same porous Niger-Nigeria corridor.

Nigeria shares over 4,000 kilometers of land borders with its neighbors — Benin, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon — many of which remain poorly manned and vulnerable to infiltration by armed groups.

Security analysts warn that while border control is essential, proposals like fencing may offer only symbolic protection unless backed by effective policies, regional cooperation, and well-funded counterterrorism efforts. 

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