The United Nations is weighing plans to support the establishment of dedicated counter-Improvised Explosive Device units in Nigeria, as the country battles a surging threat from terrorist groups deploying homemade bombs with growing sophistication across the North-East and North-West.
The proposal was disclosed during a Counter-IED workshop in Abuja, organised by the National Counter Terrorism Centre in collaboration with the United Nations Mine Action Service and the British High Commission.e
Speaking at the workshop, UNMAS Chief of Mine Action Programme Edwin Faigmane explained that the UN continues to support member states in reducing threats posed by IEDs to civilians, security personnel, and critical infrastructure — working with national authorities to develop threat mitigation strategies aligned with international standards.
Faigmane revealed that experts from UN headquarters in New York and a mobile training team based in Entebbe, Uganda, had already been deployed to share technical expertise and support the development of Nigeria’s counter-IED framework. He noted that the programme began in 2024 with an operational assessment of explosive ordnance disposal capabilities within the Nigeria Police Force.
The results so far are tangible. At the close of an eight-month training period, 15 qualified IED and conventional munitions disposal officers and 25 search-qualified officers had been certified. Faigmane added that with the arrival of additional equipment, the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps would be in a position to formally establish specialised search and IED disposal teams in 2026.
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The urgency of the initiative is underscored by the scale of the IED problem. The Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Maj. Gen. Adamu Laka, said IED attacks had not only caused casualties among security forces but had also disrupted farming, limited humanitarian access, displaced communities, and weakened investor confidence in affected regions.
Britain has been a key partner in the effort. The British High Commission’s First Secretary, Annup Vyas, reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to supporting Nigeria through the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership, describing the workshop as an opportunity to assess current capabilities, identify gaps, and build a structured plan to strengthen national counter-IED efforts.
The Nigerian Army’s Corps of Engineers Commander, Maj. Gen. Shamsideen Shafaru, also used the occasion to call for stronger collaboration among security agencies, urging that trained personnel be actively deployed and considered for joint operations with the military to improve effectiveness against groups using explosive devices.
The IED threat in Nigeria has intensified in recent months. In April 2025, at least 26 people were killed when two vehicles triggered a roadside bomb in Borno Stat, a sobering reminder of the deadly stakes driving international efforts to bolster Nigeria’s bomb disposal capabilities.