Posts in category: News

The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with Partnership Against Violent Extremism (PAVE) Network and Global Community Engagement Resilience Fund (GCERF) held a Strategic Planning Meeting in Keffi, Nasarawa State, from 9-12 September, 2022.

The objective of the meeting was to chart a new course for PAVE’s Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism activities in the country.

PAVE Network and GCERF are among the critical partners that are supporting the Federal Government’s efforts to rid the country of Violent Extremism and other crimes.

The meeting is believed to yield positive outcomes that will add values to the nation’s efforts at addressing various Security threats in the country.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) on 15th June, 2022, launched a project titled ‘Strengthening the capacity of Nigeria to collect evidence and more effectively prosecute terrorism and other serious crimes with respect to the rule of law,’ funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the United States of America.

At the event, the Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Rear Admiral YEM Musa (rtd) thanked the UNODC for coming up with such a laudable project.

The Coordinator who was represented by a Staff Officer in ONSA, Mr. Dennis Ozioko noted that the project which aimed to support the efforts of the federal and state authorities to hold culprits of violence and other forms of criminal activity to account, would further support Nigeria to successfully prosecute serious criminal offences, including terrorism, committed in North East Nigeria, through improved collection and utilisation of potential evidential material, inclusive of serious criminal cases brought before State and Federal Courts.

   “As Nigeria continues to take important steps towards countering violent extremism particularly in the North East, the unwavering support, partnership and the collaborative efforts of UNODC over the years underscore our unique drive to combat the global menace bedeviling our global space,” he said.

He assured the UNODC, European Union (EU) and United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and all the nation’s strategic partners that Nigeria would always be committed to this partnership which was geared towards strengthening Nigeria’s criminal justice measures against terrorist threat of various armed groups in compliance with the rule of law and fully respecting human rights.

To further foster a whole of society approach and build resilience of children and their environment to the practices of terrorist and violent  extremism  groups, the Office  of the National  Security  Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with the United Nations  Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) hosted a one-day Bi-annual STRIVE Juvenile National Project Steering Committee Meeting  in Abuja on 12th May, 2022.

Objectives of the meeting were to present the STRIVE Juvenile project second national work plan and seek feedback from relevant  Ministries Departments  and Agencies  (MDAs) as well as to provide an overview on the project progress from inception  to date.

In his remarks, the Coordinator, Counter  Terrorism  Centre, Office  of the National  Security  Adviser, Rear Admiral YEM Musa (rtd), represented by the Staff Officer 1 in  the Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) Unit, ONSA, Mr. Dennis Ozioko noted that Nigeria, over the past decade, has been in the frontline in the fight against terrorism and also that the country has  witnessed some of the cruellest forms of child recruitment by terrorist groups, with thousands of  children abducted, starved, killed in fights, enslaved, even used as suicide bombers by Boko Haram and its splinter faction.

He added that the country had a firm stance on counter terrorism, so her  strategy has evolved to increasingly focus on addressing root causes and  preventing violent extremism from the ground up, through whole of government and whole of society approaches. “This has been the priority of the Policy Framework on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism ( PCVE),” the Coordinator  said.

Rear Admiral  Musa (rtd) expressed the delight  of the Nigerian Government to partner with the European Union (EU) and  UNODC in the implementation of the STRIVE Juvenile project. The project according to him, allows an opportunity to make ending child recruitment and exploitation a priority in the context of the Nigerian PCVE approach.

“This is necessary and urgent. We are especially supportive of the initiatives that allow us to garner a better understanding of the trajectories of children when they join and also when they leave the groups; of the initiatives that support the different stakeholders in promoting coordinated approaches and of the activities that aim to raise awareness around the dangers and consequences of child recruitment” he stressed.

He urged participants to come up with robust decisions that would further aid the country’s preparedness to Preventing and responding to the menace of violence against children by terrorist and violent extremist groups at all levels of government, particularly at the state and the local government levels.

Also in his remarks,  the European  Union (EU) Country  Representative,  Mr. Jerome Riviere who lauded  the partnership of his Organisation  and the Office of the National  Security Adviser, called for prioritisation of STRIVE Juvenile at the International and national committee levels.

Aligning  with the earlier  speakers,  the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Representative,  Mr. Oliver Stolpe attributed the success  story of the STRIVE  Juvenile  Project in Nigeria so far to the strong commitment of the Federal  Government  through  the Office  of  the  National  Security  Adviser.

STRIVE  Juvenile  is a new, three year project funded by the European  Union that foresees activities  at the global level and in three partner countries: Indonesia,  Iraq and Nigeria. It aims to prevent  and counter violent  extremism affecting  children,  in full respect of human rights, gender equality, national and international  law.

Highlight  of the meeting was the validation of the Second National Workplan for the STRIVE  Juvenile  Project  in Nigeria.

Some of the representatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser.

A new Training Module on “investigative interviewing, the right to remain silent and the prohibition of torture” has been unveiled in Abuja on Friday, 18^th March, 2022.

The new training module is believed to further strengthen Nigeria’s partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in support for the nation’s Criminal Justice, Responses to Terrorism and Violent Extremism. The Project is funded by the European Union (EU)under the EU-Nigeria-UNODC-CTED partnership project III.  

The Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Rear Admiral Y.E.M Musa (Rtd) was among very important personalities at the event. Others include Professor M.T. Ladan, Director General, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS); Mr. Jèrôme Riviére, EU Peace and Security Programme Manager, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Mr. Oliver Stolpe, representative, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Office in Nigeria, among others.

Presenting his opening remarks, the Coordinator hailed the launching of the new training module by UNODC, saying it was a significant milestone in the operations of the organisation in its collaborative efforts to support the Nigerian Government in countering violent extremism as well as promoting criminal justice and the rule of law.

According to Rear Admiral Musa (Rtd), “this training module, I am very confident, will provide veritable tools for training Nigerian Judges, public prosecutors, investigators and other law enforcement officials, legal advisers of law enforcement agencies and defence lawyers to better position our criminal justice and rule of law.

He emphasised that this was coming up at a very auspicious time in Nigeria when the narrative was taking a new dimension with the latest development where non-state armed combatants are laying down their arms in their numbers.

“As Nigeria continues to take important steps towards countering violent extremism particularly in the North East, the unwavering support, partnership and the collaborative efforts of UNODC over the years underscore our unique drive to combat the global menace bedeviling our global space,” he stressed.

The Coordinator, on behalf of the Government of Nigeria, assured the UNODC, European Union (EU) and United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and all the nation’s strategic partners that Nigeria would always be committed to this partnership which was geared towards strengthening Nigeria’s criminal justice measures against terrorist threat of various armed groups in compliance with the rule of law and fully respecting human rights.

The Federal Government through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) held a three-day on-site engagements with a delegation of the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) led by Ms Rachel Manis, Head -UN Programme on Threat Assessment Models (TAM) from Tuesday 1 to Thrusday 3 March, 2022 in Abuja.

Senior-level decision makers from ONSA (including National Intelligence Agency; Directorate of State Security Service); Ministry of Interior, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry of Aviation; Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria; Ministry of Defence; and Nigeria Customs joined in the discussion. The Nigerian team was led by the Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, Rear Admiral YEM Musa (rtd).

Among the objectives of the roundtable were to confirm the importance of national cooperation to prevent and counter terrorist threats to civil aviation; introduce stakeholders to programme objectives; secure top-level buy-in from all relevant government entities; and clarify senior executive-level role throughout the implementation process.

The outputs of these engagements are believed to feed into a holistic desk review and inform the Programme’s recommendations for the model that best fits the Government of Nigeria’s operational requirements, as well as the path for implementing the new structure.

The TAM Programme delivers training and technical assistance via an Integrated Project Team (IPT), which comprises operational-level personnel who serve as focal points from each participating agency.

The UNOCT Delegation was joined by Dr. Raffi Gregorian, Deputy to the Under Secretary General for UNOCT.

The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC), supported by multiple partners including the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), held a-4-day Workshop on Strategic Communications for Disengagement, Disassociation, Reintegration and Reconciliation (DDRR) processes in the Northeast Nigeria for government officials from Tuesday 8-Friday 11 February 2022 in Abuja.
In his remarks, the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), represented by the Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, Rear Admiral YEM Musa noted that the Workshop was necessitated by the need for accurate dissemination of information to Nigerians and the International community at a time the nation is witnessing a mass defection of ex- Non- State Armed Groups (NSAGs) to the society.
“This Workshop provides an opportunity to obtain recommendations and next steps for the dissemination of the Communications Plan in DDRR and Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) developed by IOM and other UN agencies as being implemented by the government of Nigeria, under ONSA’s coordination,” Monguno said.
The NSA stressed that the Northeast has been stirred by a violent conflict and the presence of Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs), namely Boko Haram, in the past decade. According to him, beyond disrupting local communities and fostering an atmosphere of fear, these NSAGs have led to the mass displacement of civilians both within Nigeria, with over 2.9 million internally displaced people (IDPs), and to neighbouring countries, with some 360,000 refugees that had fled to Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. The activities of NSAGs have also undermined local economic structures and an already underperforming labour market.
He added that the Government of Nigeria (GoN) has recognised the limits of a purely military solution to the conflict and sought to adopt a more holistic approach, granting importance to elements of strategic communications and sensitisation. Priority has been given to activities intended to support the reintegration of former associates of NSAGs and to restore social cohesion at the local level.
“To this effect, the President of Nigeria enacted the Policy Framework and the National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism in 2017 and revised the country’s National Security Strategy accordingly in 2019,” he reiterated.
The National Security Adviser, on behalf of the Nigerian Government appreciated the support of all the UN agencies, particularly, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for championing the ongoing implementation of a project to improve the communications strategy related to the rehabilitation, reintegration, and reconciliation processes.
Also in the remarks of IOM Nigeria Chief of Mission, Franz Clestine, represented by the IOM Nigeria Disengagement Disassociation Reintegration and Reconciliation (DDRR) Programme Manager, Maria Quintero hinted that “This strategic training workshop is the last and final phase of the Communications for Defections and Reintegration project implemented with the support of the US Department of State and the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation Operations (CSO) in Nigeria.”
According to him, the project is inscribed in the framework of the DDRR Action Plan, adopted by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Ministry of Justice and the Defence Headquarter in 2017; adding that the project has a broader scope as it has aimed to support the Government, and especially the Office of the National Security Adviser, in its efforts to prevent violent extremism and promote DDRR processes.
The 4 -day strategic training workshop which drew participants from Federal and State governments agencies from the Federal Capital Territory and 3 Bay States of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, centred around enhancing the capacities of strategic government officials to disseminate accurate information with the communities concerning DDRR and PVE policies and implementing strategic Monitoring and Evaluation mechanisms for their communication strategies.