Nigeria's security forces are making real gains against jihadists and bandits

The position holds that Nigeria's military and police are making real gains against Boko Haram, ISWAP and armed bandit groups. Its advocates point to hostages rescued quickly, kidnapping networks dismantled, and fighters killed, arrested or surrendering, and conclude that the security response is working.

The position appears in coverage of Nigeria's jihadist insurgency. It is carried by a small group of outlets, four publishers across 172 matched events, which belong to the Global South side of the coverage. The view is stated there as a plain assessment of results rather than as a contested claim.

The material names no competing position, but events of recent months complicate the picture. The Nigerian military announced that joint airstrikes with the United States killed 175 Islamic State fighters, including senior leaders, in the northeast. A Nigerian Air Force airstrike on a market on the border between Borno and Yobe states, however, left many civilians feared dead, with estimates ranging from over 30 to as many as 200, while the military said it was targeting terrorist hideouts. The group Afenifere warned that terrorism and banditry could trigger ethnic conflicts.