Nigeria’s security vulnerabilities were laid bare on Thursday as Senator Ali Ndume declared that the country’s satellite system is so weak it cannot even track terrorists, leaving the nation dangerously exposed.
Speaking on Christmas TV, the Borno South lawmaker dropped a bombshell: out of Nigeria’s five satellites, only two are functional, and even those are too limited to support real-time counter-terror operations.
“If the country’s satellites were capable, why are we not able to trace the General that is missing in action? It is because they don’t have an adequate tracking system,” he questioned.
Ndume said Nigeria is fighting a digital-age war with outdated tools, warning that fewer than 5,000 terrorists should never be able to torment a nation of 200 million.
“This ragtag people that are less than 4000 or 5000, terrorising a population of 200 million is shameful.”
He slammed the country’s lack of technological preparedness, insisting Nigeria must first admit its failures before real solutions can emerge.
Ndume said the recent surge in attacks shows why the nation needs modern surveillance systems, not “bare hands and just shooting guns.”
“We need technology and intelligence,”he stressed.
The senator explained that Nigeria lacks enough satellites in orbit to provide continuous, real-time coverage.
“If you want to have real time… you need to have more satellites… We don’t have that capacity.”
He recalled how the U.S. could track movements during the Chibok girls’ saga because they had satellites trained on Nigeria — a capability the country still does not possess.
“We don’t have the satellite images that is required. We only have aerial images,” he reaffirmed.
Ndume urged the Federal Government to seek international cooperation to expand the nation’s satellite system and finally give security forces the tools they desperately need.
He applauded President Bola Tinubu’s decision to pull police officers away from VIPs, saying the redeployment will strengthen security, but warned that manpower alone won’t win the war.
Security forces, he said, must be properly equipped, trained, and motivated if Nigeria hopes to crush terrorism once and for all.
