President Bola Tinubu is currently holding a security meeting with service chiefs, intelligence heads, and the Inspector-General of Police at the State House, Abuja.
PUNCH Online observed that the meeting, which began at about 2:00 pm on Monday, is the first item on the President’s agenda since his return to Abuja from Bayelsa State on Friday.
The emergency session comes amid heightened security concerns following the United States’ authorisation of non-emergency embassy staff to leave Abuja and a controversial military airstrike in Borno State that killed over 100 civilians.
Those in attendance at the ongoing meeting include the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Staff, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, and the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu.
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, is also attending the closed-door session at the Presidential Villa.
On April 8, 2026, the US State Department authorised the voluntary departure of non-emergency government employees and family members from the US Embassy in Abuja, citing a “deteriorating security situation.”
The decision placed 23 of Nigeria’s 36 states under a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” designation, the highest risk category, adding Plateau, Jigawa, Kwara, Niger, and Taraba to the list.
The US highlighted threats from Islamist insurgents in the Northeast, criminal gangs in the Northwest, and ongoing violence in parts of southern and southeastern Nigeria, including oil-producing regions.
The embassy said visa appointments in Abuja had been suspended, though the Lagos consulate continues to provide routine and emergency services.
The Federal Government said the travel alert was guided by US internal protocols and did not reflect the overall security situation across Nigeria.
“While we acknowledge isolated security challenges in some areas, there is no general breakdown of law and order, and the vast majority of the country remains stable,” Minister Mohammed Idris stated.
The security meeting also comes hours after a Nigerian Air Force strike targeting Boko Haram terrorists hit Jilli Market along the Borno-Yobe border on Saturday, April 11, 2026, killing over 100 civilians, including children, and injuring many others.
Amnesty International cited survivors as saying at least 100 people were killed in the airstrike, with some reports putting the death toll as high as 200.
The Air Force acknowledged conducting “precision mop-up airstrikes on identified terrorist locations” in the Jilli axis of Borno State but made no reference to hitting a civilian market.
However, the Presidency defended the operation.
Speaking with Bloomberg earlier on Monday, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said, “The market was a legitimate military target because it has been turned into a logistics and trading hub by Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists.”
Amnesty International condemned the strike, calling for an independent investigation and describing it as evidence of “the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect.”
Military air raids have killed at least 500 civilians since 2017, according to multiple reports, with failures in intelligence gathering and coordination between ground forces and air assets cited as contributing factors.
Nigeria is battling multiple security threats across its six geopolitical zones, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province insurgency in the Northeast, banditry and kidnapping in the Northwest and North-Central regions, and separatist violence in the Southeast.
Major attacks in 2026 include the February 3 massacre in Woro, Kwara State, where over 100 people were killed and 176 kidnapped, and multiple mass abductions across northern states.
Amnesty International reported that at least 1,100 people were abducted between January and April 2026, though the Police disputed the figure as unverified.
As of the time of filing this report, the security meeting was still ongoing as our correspondent spotted the vehicles conveying the security chiefs still parked at the forecourt of the President’s office.
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