Director of Defence Media Operations, Markus Kangye, revealed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the 8th of May, 2025.
The Defence Headquarters has announced that numerous herders and terrorists responsible for the recent wave of violent attacks on communities in Benue, Plateau, and other areas of the country are foreigners. They have infiltrated Nigeria through poorly guarded borders.
He added that the identities and languages of the attackers have helped security forces confirm that many of them are not Nigerian nationals.
“Well, when you hear them talk in some instances , you will be able to decipher whether these people are from here or not. For instance, if I speak Hausa and my brother from the South East speaks Hausa, you’ll know that this Hausa is a borrowed one and Hausa language like any other language has different versions and intonations,” he said.
"If somebody from Sokoto for instance speaks Hausa and my friend from Katsina speaks Hausa you’ll notice some differences.
"The Hausa language we speak in Nigeria is different from that of Mali, Central Africa Republic and Ghana. ”
He added that, aside from their language, their hair also indicated they weren't Nigerian.
"So when we arrest these herders and terrorists from the way they speak, it is clear and even from their hair, you will tell you that they are not from Nigeria.
“I think the only community in Nigeria that has hair similar to the Shuwa in the Sahel region is probably the Shuwa Arabs in Borno State but they don’t even have the same."
"Kangye pointed out that although some Nigerian herders clash with farmers, the most serious violence is mostly caused by outsiders."
“One will also admit that many of those terrorising our people are foreigners even though some of them are also Nigerians,” he said.
"There are some herders that are Nigerians that also get involved in the process of rearing their cows then they encroach into these farms and then before you know it conflict ensued between the farmers and the farmers, and these are the issues we are trying to solve.
"But know that most of the violence and incessant killings you are hearing in some parts of this country are perpetrated by mostly those that find their way into the country through our porous borders.
He called for greater collaboration between different agencies to monitor Nigeria's borders and ensure that all those entering the country are accounted for.
Highlighting the military's operational success, Kangye announced the arrest of a notorious gunrunner and kidnapping kingpin, Buhari Umar, who had been terrorising communities in Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau, and Kaduna States.
He said troops also apprehended a five-man kidnapping gang in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The suspects were identified as Hassan Mohammed, Saleh Sani, Idi Yusuf, Adamu Danmai, and Hassan Bello.
The military, according to Kangye, also neutralised numerous terrorists, including a wanted leader identified as Nkwachi Eze, also known as Onowu, who had been coordinating multiple attacks and kidnappings across the South East.
In April, he said troops rescued 173 kidnapped victims, while over 204 terrorists and their family members surrendered to Nigerian forces.
"A total of 430 suspected oil thieves and other criminals were also arrested. In operations targeting economic sabotage, troops of Operation DELTA SAFE foiled oil theft valued at over N1.93 billion in just one week
“Items recovered included over 1 million litres of stolen crude oil, hundreds of thousands of litres of illegally refined petroleum products, and the destruction of 95 illegal refining sites,” he added