Tinubu holds emergency security meeting with Service Chiefs at Aso Rock

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday convened a high-level security meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, bringing together the nation’s military commanders, intelligence chiefs and top security advisers to review the country’s security situation.

The closed-door meeting, which lasted for more than two hours, was confirmed by the Presidency through photographs released on Thursday evening.

Sources familiar with the meeting told PUNCH Online that discussions centred on the security situation across the country and developments in various theatres of military operations.

Those in attendance included the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Isa; Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lieutenant General Emmanuel Undiandeye; and Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Adeola Ajayi.

Also present were the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mohammed Mohammed; Inspector-General of Police, Olatunde Disu; Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka Famadewa (retd.); and other senior security officials.

The meeting comes two days after troops of Operation FANSAN YAMMA, supported by the Nigerian Air Force, foiled what the military described as a major terrorist offensive in Zamfara and Katsina states.

According to the military, three Nigerian Air Force aircraft tracked a convoy of about 300 heavily armed terrorists riding motorcycles along the Sunke-Kumbo axis towards Gummi and carried out precision airstrikes on the group.

In a separate operation, troops reportedly neutralised Alhaji Tukur, identified as a notorious bandit commander and younger brother of wanted bandit kingpin Alhaji Shehu Bagiwaye, in Dogon Kade.

In the North-East, troops of Operation Hadin Kai also repelled a fresh attack on the Mairari military base on July 1, following a series of coordinated assaults by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on military formations.

Security analysts have described the attacks as part of an attempt by the terrorist group to overrun forward operating bases and weaken the military’s operational capabilities.

Military records indicate that at least 13 attacks on military bases have been recorded in 2026, most of them in Borno State.

As of the time of filing this report, the Presidency had yet to issue an official statement detailing the outcome of Thursday’s meeting.

At a similar security briefing held in March, the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, said the armed forces had updated the President on ongoing security operations, insisting that security forces continued to inflict heavy casualties on terrorists and bandits.

> “Contrary to what you may read or hear, the terrorists and bandits are taking more casualties. Their commanders are being killed every day. We are confident of victory,” Musa had said.