800 Special Forces Ready To Battle Terrorists – CDS Musa

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has announced that the Nigerian military will, next week, deploy no fewer than 800 newly trained special forces into key operational areas as part of intensified efforts to tackle the country’s evolving security challenges.

Gen. Musa disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the Defence Training Conference 2025, themed “Performance Oriented Training and Trends in the Contemporary Operating Environment.”

According to him, the special forces, drawn from across the services, have undergone a comprehensive training programme tailored to confront the sophisticated threats facing the country, from insurgency and terrorism to cyber warfare and hybrid security threats.

“Sometime next week, we will be graduating the first 800 special forces team trained to face the challenges we are undergoing. The training is very comprehensive,” Musa said.

He stressed that, unlike previous deployments where troops were sent out in fragments, the special forces will now be deployed as a cohesive unit to strengthen operational effectiveness and mutual understanding among personnel.

“We have realised that deploying them in pieces also creates that weakness that we see. We will be deploying them together—a force that stays together, that will understand each other. From experience, a fighting force must be able to understand themselves,” the CDS explained.

Gen. Musa noted that the deployment reflects the military’s broader mission to build a professional, technologically driven, and combat-ready force, capable of navigating a dynamic and increasingly complex security environment.

He highlighted the growing sophistication of threats, including the rise of cyber warfare, proliferation of advanced weaponry, and integration of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems into combat scenarios.

“The enemy we are dealing with is someone who has nothing to lose. He lives, he dies, his guilt goes for him. That is why we must be able to prepare our troops to understand the nature of the enemy and the threat they are facing,” Musa stated.

Earlier, the Chief of Defence Training, Rear Adm. Ibrahim Shettima, said the conference aimed to strengthen jointness, enhance professionalism, and align military training with the modern character of conflict.

Shettima stressed the importance of adapting to hybrid threats, embracing simulation-based training, and producing officers who are not only technically proficient but also agile and resilient in the face of fast-evolving security dynamics.