Buhari appoints ex-Navy officer as pioneer counter-terrorism chief

Rear Admiral Yaminu Ehinomen Musa (retired) has been given approval by President Muhammadu Buhari to serve as the first Coordinator of the National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC).

This information was released in a statement on Tuesday night by Femi Adesina, the president’s special adviser on media and publicity.
The NCTC was founded in the Office of the National Security Advisor (ONSA) as the coordinating body for the harmonisation of all counterterrorism and counterterrorism financing operations in the nation, according to the announcement.

As stated in the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, “The NCTC is equally charged with the coordination of counterterrorism policies, strategies, plans, and support in the discharge of the duties of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

“Before his appointment, Rear Admiral Musa had been the Director of the Counter-Terrorism Directorate in the ONSA since 2017. 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 senior Naval officer served as the Nigerian representative at the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) for the last three years.

“His appointment is to take effect immediately and to run for an initial term of five years.”