Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has resigned from his position with immediate effect for health reasons, the president’s office has said.
The 63-year-old’s departure coincides with a period of heightened security challenges across Nigeria, with the government under pressure to deal with a spate of mass kidnappings.
Last week, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that at least 402 people, mostly schoolchildren, had been kidnapped since mid-November.
A retired general, Christopher Musa, has been nominated by President Bola Tinubu as Abubakar’s replacement.
General Musa, 58, served as Nigeria’s chief of defence staff from June 2023 until October 2025 and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most experienced military strategists.
He is known in particular for commanding major counter-insurgency operations against jihadist groups in north-east of the country.
In the latest sign of the insecurity, gunmen abducted at least 20 people, including a Christian pastor, a Muslim bride and her bridesmaids, in two separate raids in the north on Sunday.
Some 250 schoolchildren and 12 teachers from a Catholic school in central Niger state are still believed to be missing following the biggest mass kidnapping attack in recent weeks.
It is not clear who is behind the kidnappings – most analysts believe they are carried out by criminal gangs seeking ransom payments, however a presidential spokesman has told the BBC the government believes they are the work of jihadist groups.
Abubakar was appointed to his post in August 2023, and it is unclear what health issues prompted him to resign.
He wrote a letter to President Bola Tinubu, informing him of his decision.
Tinubu’s office said the president accepted his resignation, and thanked him for his “services to the nation”.
It also noted that Tinubu had declared a national security emergency, with plans to bolster the police force to about 50,000 by recruiting to 20,000 more officers.
Nigeria is facing numerous security challenges – including kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs, an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, separatist violence in the south-east, and a battle between herders and farmers in the centre over access to land and water.
Experts say corruption, poor intelligence sharing and underfunded local policing have hampered efforts to tackle the various crises.
Abubakar served as a two-term governor of the northern state of Jigawa from 2015 to 2023.
He was an important figure in Tinubu’s presidential election campaigns just over two years ago, helping him win his native Jigawa state. He was rewarded with the defence portfolio when Tinubu took office.
Nigeria’s Senate is expected to begin confirmation hearings for Gen Musa soon. If approved, he is expected to oversee Nigeria’s most ambitious security overhaul in decades.
Meanwhile, the US House Committee on Appropriations will be leading a high-level roundtable meeting later on Tuesday to examine allegations of Christian persecution in Nigeria, amid growing international concern over escalating violence in the country.
“We will never turn a blind eye to our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for their faith,” Tom Cole, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, posted on X.
Earlier in November, US President Donald Trump threatened to intervene militarily in Nigeria if the government failed to stop “the killing of Christians”.
Nigeria’s government and security analysts have been at pains to point out that both Muslims and Christians have been victims of attacks.
Last week, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu led a delegation to Washington for talks – and it was agreed that a US-Nigerian working group would be set up to focus on strengthening defence and security co-operation.
Additional reporting by Chris Ewokor in Abuja
Source: BBC
