The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has disclosed that the Federal Government has secured the conviction of 1,721 terrorism suspects since the commencement of the national terrorism prosecution programme in October 2017.
Director of Legal Services at ONSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, made the disclosure on Thursday during the Joint Security, Defence and Law Enforcement Public Relations Summit in Abuja.
According to him, the prosecution programme, coordinated by ONSA in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and security agencies, has successfully completed 10 phases of terrorism trials across the country.
Mijinyawa stated that the government also discharged and acquitted suspects where evidence was insufficient, stressing that the process reflects the administration's commitment to upholding the rule of law, constitutional rights and fair trial standards.
He explained that the first three phases of the exercise, conducted between 2017 and 2018, resulted in 366 convictions, while 882 suspects were discharged, five acquitted, and 61 cases adjourned.
He added that phases four to eight, held between 2023 and 2025, produced 490 convictions involving offences such as terrorism financing, serious international crimes and sexual and gender-based offences.
According to him, the ninth and tenth phases, concluded in 2026, recorded 865 convictions—the highest single-year figure since the programme began and accounting for more than half of all convictions secured over the period.
Mijinyawa reaffirmed the Federal Government's commitment to strengthening the prosecution of terrorism-related offences while ensuring strict adherence to due process and the provisions of the Constitution.
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