The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has described as historic and strategic the security pact the Federal Government of Nigeria entered into with the State of Israel.

The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegau-Ojukwu, on August 12, 2025, signed a security pact with Sharren Haskel-Harpaz, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister.

Luka Binniyat, MBF spokesman in a statement on Friday, said, “This agreement is historic and strategic. It represents a new phase in Nigeria’s long struggle against terrorism, banditry, and other violent crimes that have destabilized our country for over a decade and a half.”

MBF, speaking for the ethnic nationalities spread across 14 states of the Middle Belt and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, declared its total and unreserved support for the initiative.

However, the group added, “Unfortunately, but not unexpected, this wise and courageous move by the Federal Government has been met with protest from some quarters.”

Binniyat stated that on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, some Muslim leaders in Ibadan organized a peaceful demonstration opposing the security ties between Nigeria and Israel.

According to him, the protest was orchestrated by the Ibadan branch of Aqsah Nigeria and attended by Islamic figures including Dr. Dawud Amoo-Alaga, Sheikh Abdulwaheed Abdul Hamid, Sheikh Abdul Fatah Sanni, Sheikh Dhikrullah Shafii including Prof Ishaq Akintola, Director of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, among others.

The protesters, he noted, cited the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, mass civilian casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and starvation as their reason to oppose a military pact between Nigeria and Israel.

Binniyat also noted with concern “the unfounded claims” of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, after the signing of the agreement, alleging that Mossad has marked some Muslim clerics for elimination in Nigeria.

He said, “This is dangerous fear mongering. Perhaps Sheikh Gumi’s anxiety arises from the fact that Israel’s intelligence capabilities may already know more about his dealings than even the Saudis, who banned him from Mecca and deported him during the last Hajj.”

MBF stressed that it is only those who have skeletons in their cupboard that should fear Mossad, noting that the pact has nothing to do with religion.

He added that it is not connected in any way to the conflict between Israel, Hamas, or any other group in the Middle East, explaining that rather, it is a purely security-driven decision, taken to defend Nigerians Christians, Muslims, and all faiths, against forces that threaten liberties, peace and the very survival of our nation.

“Nigeria cannot continue to suffer endless killings, kidnappings and economic stagnation while rejecting assistance and cooperation with partners who have shown great degree of success in combating terror,” the statement added.

MBF noted that it has been estimated that since 2009, Boko Haram insurgency has killed over 35,000 Nigerians and displaced more than two million people. It added that in the North-West, rural banditry claimed around 12,354 lives in 2021 alone, according to reports.

“Between May 2015 and April 2024, Nigeria recorded an estimated onen million kidnappings, with families paying an astonishing N2.2 trillion in ransom, according to various sources.

“In the Sahelian North West, hundreds of villages have been sacked and hundreds currently remain under the control of armed Fulani bandits. Across the Middle Belt, hundreds of communities have been wiped out, their lands occupied by terrorists and armed Fulani bandits.”

Binniyat stated that for many rural communities, insecurity has turned fertile farmlands into ghost villages, worsening hunger and poverty that directly or indirectly affects every Nigerian, pointing out that it is against the backdrop that the MBF views the Nigeria–Israel security pact as both timely and necessary.

MBF stated that Israel has decades of experience in counter-terrorism and advanced technology in intelligence gathering, drone surveillance, and rapid-response mechanisms, believing that
these are precisely the tools Nigeria needs to win the war.

It therefore urged the Federal Government to ensure the immediate and full implementation of the agreement.

Middle Belt Forum hails Nigeria, Israel security pact, urges FG to implement agreement