An Assessment of Special Military Operations in Internal Security Management in Nigeria (1966-2019)

This article identifies different operational codenames adopted by theNigerian military in special domestic operations from 1966-2019 andexamined whether the operations were executed in line with thecodenames. In Nigeria, the military has an established tradition ofcodenaming special operations, in both internal and foreign missions.Since 1966, the Nigerian military has been involved in internal securitymanagement and codenamed all the operations using both English and local language names. The aftermath of the first military coup d'état on15th January 1966, was the beginning of military involvement in domesticsecurity operations in addition to their constitutional responsibility ofdefending the territorial integrity of the country. The Effect Perspective(TEP) is adopted as the theoretical framework which gives propernuance to the study. Methodologically, data were elicited through in-depth interviews. The findings explain why several military operationshave failed to achieve the objectives of their codenames. It concludes thatthere is no correlation between the operational codenames and theiroutcomes of special military operations in Nigeria because the desiredresults of restoring peace have not been achieved within the specific timeframe given when they were launched. The paper concludes that themajority of special military operations launched in Nigeria failed belowexpectations and unable to restore peace in their country in line with theoperational codenames as a result of factors identified in the study.