Despite Anticipating Fall of Sahel, Nigerian Defence Chief Advocates Copying Burkina Faso Defence Strategy

Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has called for the mobilisation of vigilante forces in Benue State under military supervision, a move similar to the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP) model used in Burkina Faso and across the Sahel.

Speaking at a meeting with traditional rulers in Makurdi on Tuesday, General Musa said the vigilante initiative, similar to one previously implemented in Borno State, would help protect rural communities from ongoing terrorist attacks.

We have to change our strategy,” the CDS said. “We’re going to look inward and see how we can address it. But we cannot do it alone without the communities.”

However, this represents a sharp departure from Musa’s recent stance on national security. In a recent address, the defence chief called for Nigeria to fence off its northern borders from the Sahel, arguing that the region’s instability, porous borders, and reliance on unregulated civilian defence groups, like Burkina Faso’s VDP, made collaboration dangerous and unsustainable.

The renewed security effort in Benue follows weeks of unrelenting violence. In the most recent massacre, over 100 residents of Yelewata were killed in a deadly overnight attack. On Sunday morning, youths, dressed in black and bearing placards and palm fronds, took to the streets of Wurukum Roundabout in Makurdi, the state capital, to protest the continued killings and what they describe as government inaction and neglect in the face of repeated attacks on vulnerable communities.

However, the protest, which began as a peaceful demonstration, descended into chaos after security forces arrived. Live footage on TikTok showed security personnel firing teargas canisters, hot water jets, and even live ammunition into the air to disperse the crowd. Protesters can be seen fleeing for cover.

President Tinubu rescheduled his planned visit to Kaduna State and will instead travel to Benue State on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, after mounting criticism over his silence and leadership style following the recent deadly attack in the Yelewata community in Benue State. The President’s decision comes after intense backlash from Nigerians, political opponents, and civil society groups who condemned his delayed response to the killings.

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