Delay In US Security Help Dangerous — Forensic Expert

France-based forensic consultant, Dr Yusuf Aliu, yesterday urged Nigeria to move swiftly on President Bola Tinubu’s directive establishing a high-level team to engage the United States on new security cooperation, saying any delay could worsen the country’s rapidly deteriorating security crisis.

Aliu, in a statement, said the move was timely but stressed that the government must act with the pace of the crisis.

“Setting up the team is commendable, but Nigeria cannot afford a bureaucratic slowdown. Violence is outpacing our capacity. This is no longer regional insecurity; it is a nationwide emergency,” he said.

“From the Middle Belt to the North-West and the South-West highways, attacks now occur with frightening regularity,” he noted.

Aliu identified intelligence failure as the core of the crisis, saying “suspicious movements precede most attacks we simply cannot track.’’

He explained that US support, through satellite feeds, signals interception and real-time terrain monitoring, would enable security agencies disrupt attacks before they occur, adding that Nigerian forces lacked the tools required to operate effectively in forests and ungoverned spaces.

“We need long-endurance drones, thermal imaging and rapid-response mobility,” he said. He said US training in intelligence fusion, hostage negotiation, cyber-tracking of criminal networks and ethical operations could significantly strengthen national security capacity.

While warning that insecurity was crippling the economy, Aliu said: “Farming belts have collapsed, schools are shutting down, investors are staying away, and businesses are budgeting for kidnapping risk.’’

He added that Nigeria’s instability was already affecting West Africa through refugee flows and arms trafficking, dismissing concerns that US cooperation would undermine Nigeria’s autonomy.

“Sovereignty is not eroded by accepting support; it is eroded when violent groups control territory, and citizens lose trust in the state.

“Nigeria is running out of time. Delay at this stage would be a tragic mistake. We must move with urgency, clarity and purpose.”