Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (rtd), has urged the Federal Government to formally declare a full-scale war against bandits and insurgents responsible for worsening violence across the country.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Irabor said that despite Nigeria’s ongoing battles with insecurity, there is no legal declaration of war. “There are no legal instruments indicating that Nigeria is at war. There’s none; we’re only assuming that we are at war,” he stated.

According to him, an official declaration would enable the government to mobilize and prioritize national resources more effectively to confront violent non-state actors. “Of course, there is a need to declare war in order to aggregate the elements of state power directly to the war effort,” he explained.

Irabor noted that such a move would improve resource allocation and accountability, ensuring that funds and operations aimed at tackling banditry and insurgency deliver measurable results. “It will make a huge difference because resourcing will now be properly channeled, and accountability frameworks can be properly outlined so we can see results for the expenditures made,” he added.

He emphasized that declaring war would go beyond military operations, calling for a coordinated use of all elements of state power. “It is not just the military line of operation. We’re talking about the aggregate deployment of state power beyond just military force,” Irabor said.

His remarks add to growing calls from security experts and civil society groups for a more decisive and coordinated approach to Nigeria’s worsening security crisis marked by insurgency, mass abductions, banditry, and communal violence.