As part of its commitment to advancing security sector reform through evidence-based research, strategic dialogue, and stakeholder engagement, Good Governance Africa-Nigeria (GGA-Nigeria) is set to host a critical hybrid panel event titled: “Reckoning with Resurgence: Rethinking Responses to ISWAP’s Evolving Threat.”
The event, scheduled for 22 July, at BON Hotel Elvis, Abuja, will also mark the official launch of GGA-Nigeria’s latest research publication: “Unseen Advances, Quiet Offensives: ISWAP’s Strategic Resurgence and the Limits of Nigeria’s Military Response.”
According to a statement by Dr. Ola Bello, Executive Director of GGA-Nigeria, the research draws attention to the growing influence of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the urgent need for a recalibrated national response.
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“ISWAP’s resurgence poses a critical challenge to Nigeria’s macroeconomic recovery,” Dr. Bello said. “Beyond the Northeast, the group’s expanding operations threaten agricultural productivity, cross-border trade, and regional integration. To counter this, Nigeria must invest in a coordinated, intelligence-led strategy that cuts across political, geographic, and institutional silos.”
The report reveals how ISWAP has evolved into the most active and lethal ISIS affiliate globally, accounting for over one-third of ISIS attacks and nearly 30 per cent of casualties worldwide in the first half of 2025.
It underscores the limitations of Nigeria’s largely kinetic response and calls for a shift toward preventive, intelligence-driven, and community-centred approaches.
Speaking ahead of the event, Malik Samuel, GGA-Nigeria’s lead researcher on conflict, peace, and security, emphasised the urgency of addressing ISWAP’s expanding threat.
“ISWAP is no longer just a regional security concern. It is the flagship of ISIS’s insurgency in Africa. With the Islamic State recalibrating its operations toward Africa, ISWAP is fast becoming the blueprint for affiliated groups across the continent. Failure to contain this now risks wider disruption, from food insecurity to economic stagnation and social fragmentation.”
The panel discussion will feature two distinguished speakers: Hon. Aliyu Ibrahim Gebi, Special Adviser to Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff on Non-Kinetic Strategies; and Mustapha Alhassan, peacebuilding expert and international development practitioner, with extensive experience in the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel.
Both panellists will offer critical insights into how Nigeria and the broader region can move beyond conventional military responses to adopt a more holistic and sustainable security architecture.
GGA-Nigeria invites government officials, civil society, the diplomatic corps, media, and the general public to join the conversation, either in person or virtually, as the nation seeks new strategies to counter insurgent resurgence and safeguard regional stability.
