During an interview aired on Channels Television, security analyst Dr. David Okoro talked about Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
According to him“, These same people you call bandits shot down a fighter jet during Buhari’s government.”
Dr. Okoro recalled that the incident occurred under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration when the Nigerian Air Force lost a fighter jet to suspected bandits operating in the North-West region.
He said the attack revealed how far the insecurity crisis had escalated beyond the typical narrative of rural banditry.
He explained that the term “bandits” has often been used loosely to describe groups that now possess the strength and firepower of organized terrorist movements.
According to him, the downing of a fighter jet proved that these elements had acquired access to sophisticated weapons, possibly from cross-border arms trafficking networks.
Dr. Okoro lamented that despite such a grave event, the government’s response at the time was insufficiently assertive. He said Nigeria failed to learn critical lessons from that episode, allowing the same groups to regroup and expand their operations across several states.
He argued that the downing of a jet — a high-value military asset — should have prompted a total overhaul of Nigeria’s counterterrorism approach. Instead, he said, the incident was treated as an isolated occurrence rather than a warning of an expanding insurgency.
According to him, this level of capability among armed non-state actors has long blurred the distinction between insurgents and bandits. He maintained that any group able to shoot down a fighter aircraft should be regarded as a terrorist organization, not just local criminals.
Dr. Okoro further noted that the Buhari administration’s reluctance to classify these groups as terrorists weakened the military’s strategic response. He suggested that political considerations at the time overshadowed the urgent need for a decisive security doctrine.
He added that the incident should serve as a wake-up call for the current administration to reassess its own security strategy. He warned that without addressing the root causes and logistics enabling these groups, Nigeria risks facing even more devastating attacks.
The security expert emphasized that accountability and intelligence reform are critical in preventing future tragedies. He called on the government to invest in surveillance technology and strengthen coordination among the armed forces to ensure incidents of this magnitude are not repeated.
Dr. Okoro said the downing of a military jet was not merely an embarrassment to Nigeria’s defense system but a sign that the state was losing control over its monopoly on violence. He insisted that unless the nation treats the problem as a full-scale war against terror, the same actors who shot down that jet could once again challenge Nigeria’s sovereignty. Read Original