The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, has announced that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is now using a non-kinetic approach in the fight against insurgency.
The decision was made after realizing that relying solely on bullets and other violent methods to win the war was no longer feasible.
Musa explained that states now engage in warfare through non-kinetic actions, such as diplomacy.
He made the statements in Abuja while delivering a keynote address on “Psychological Operations and Strategic Communication for National Security,” at an event organised by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The forum centered on the theme, “Winning Hearts and Minds for National Cohesion and Development.”
Rear Admiral Matthew Daupreye, Director of Training at Defence Headquarters, stated that utilizing a non-kinetic strategy in the battle against insurgency and other challenges to national security will assist win over people’s hearts and minds.
The military commander claimed that combat has progressed beyond annihilating the foe.
“Non-kinetic approach is the use of informational, psychological, diplomatic, economic, social, and civil-military cooperation as part of instruments of national power to pursue national interests,” he said.
“It involves collaborations between the military and civil actors to achieve national interest through the application of non-lethal force or means that are sub-lethal or not intended to be lethal to dispose of the enemy.”
Musa emphasized the importance of increased collaboration between different agencies, as well as the use of psychological operations and strategic communication, in order to minimize acts of insurgency.
He pointed out that resistance groups engage in asymmetric warfare, which involves a combination of conventional warfare, irregular warfare, terrorism, and counterinsurgency. This type of warfare aims to weaken conventional forces and intimidate countries economically.
The Chief of Defence Intelligence, Maj Gen Emmanuel Undiandeye, also emphasized the significance of psychological operations in winning the war against insurgency.
Undiandeye stated that the five-day program, organized by the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Safe Neighbourhood Initiative, provided a unique opportunity to understand the dynamics of psychological operations and strategic communications.
