“AFRICA UNDER SIEGE: OVER 1,000 INSURGENT GROUPS OPERATING ON THE CONTINENT – GAMBARI”
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–Former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, has revealed that over 1,000 insurgent groups are currently operating in Africa, with the majority posing a deadly threat to the continent’s peace and security. Gambari made this disclosure at the 2025 African Chiefs of Defence Staff summit in Abuja, Nigeria.
Key Points:
– Insurgent Groups: Gambari’s statement highlights the alarming number of insurgent groups operating in Africa, underscoring the need for collective action to address the threat.
– African Defence Industries: Gambari called on African leaders to strengthen their defence industries and invest in their own technologies to combat the insurgent groups.
– Security Architecture:He emphasized the importance of designing and building a security architecture that guarantees human security, tailored to Africa’s unique needs and challenges .
Summit Details:
– International Conference:The summit, themed “Combating contemporary threats to regional peace and security in Africa: the role of strategic defence collaboration,” brought together representatives from 36 African countries.
– Regional Participation: Notably, Niger Republic representatives attended the summit, while Mali and Burkina Faso were absent, possibly due to ongoing tensions with the regional bloc ECOWAS .
Speaking while delivering his goodwill message, Gambari, also a former minister of external affairs and former Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, called on African nations to first secure their various nations before securing the region and continent at large.
“We have to first secure our countries before we can secure our region and then the continent. Securing Nigeria has placed Nigeria at the forefront of securing the region and continent. There are over 1000 insurgency groups operating in Africa,” the former aide to the late president said.
Earlier, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, said the challenges bedeviling the continent defy borders, hence the need for collaborative efforts.
According to him, there is a need for an African-led security architecture to secure its citizens, adding that the Nigerian Armed Forces are ready to work with their colleagues across borders to tame terrorism and other threats.
The four-star general maintained that the enemy is within, and as such, “we (African countries) must be the architect of our defence and security
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