Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has ordered frontline troops to “shoot on sight at any terrorist without waiting for further orders.”
He gave the directive on Tuesday in Maiduguri during a visit to troops with the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, as operations intensify across the North-East.
Musa made it clear soldiers are not expected to hesitate in combat. In his words: “You are to engage any criminal or any bandit that is armed and about to kill you. You don’t have to wait.” He added: “Somebody’s aiming to shoot at you, you’re waiting for orders, from who?”
The order is aimed at armed terrorists posing immediate threats, not civilians. It reinforces his position that troops already have full authority to act instantly once deployed.
