President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Yaminu Musa as the pioneer coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).
The centre was established in 2012, and operates under the office of the national security adviser (ONSA).
In a statement on Tuesday, Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said the appointment of Musa, a retired rear admiral, takes effect immediately and is expected to run for an initial term of five years.
“Before his appointment, Rear Admiral Musa had been the Director of the Counter Terrorism Directorate in the ONSA since 2017,” the statement reads.
“He was responsible for the review of the National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST), and the creation of the Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE), which President Buhari signed into law in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
“Additionally, the retired Naval senior officer served as the Nigerian representative at the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) for the last 3 years. His appointment is to take effect immediately and to run for an initial term of 5 years.”
Adesina said the centre is the coordinating body for the harmonisation of all counter terrorism operations in the country.
He also said the NCTC is equally charged with the coordination of counter terrorism policies, strategies, and plans, and support in the performance of the functions of the national security adviser, as provided in the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.
Musa’s appointment comes at the time the federal government has been intensifying efforts in the fight against terrorism in the country.
According to information from NCTC’s website, the centre is staffed by experienced officers from government ministries, departments and agencies.
It also houses the joint terrorism analysis branch, national counter terrorism strategy, explosive devices analysis office, and the preventing countering violent extremism unit, which coordinates the implementation of Nigeria’s policy framework and national action plan for preventing and countering violent extremism.
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