The Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training (CEDDERT) has criticised the Federal Government’s expanding security relationship with Israel, describing it as a betrayal of Nigeria’s long-standing commitment to justice, pluralism and opposition to oppression.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, the organisation expressed concern over what it described as deepening ties between Nigeria and Israel under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly in the areas of security, intelligence sharing and military cooperation.
Mohammed said the development followed “no fewer than six high-level engagements between Israeli officials and the Nigerian government between May 2023 and December 2025,” which he noted focused on “security cooperation, surveillance technologies, intelligence sharing, and counter-terrorism collaboration.”
He recalled that on August 22, 2025, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, signed a Security Cooperation Agreement with Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sharren Haskel-Harpaz.
According to him, the agreement provides for “intelligence exchange, counter-terrorism training, and expanded military cooperation.”
CEDDERT also raised alarm over a statement attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he pledged Israel’s commitment to “protect Christians in Nigeria.”
Mohammed said the declaration “implicitly undermines Nigeria’s constitutional secularity and its long-standing multi-religious, pluralistic identity.”
Questioning the moral basis of Nigeria’s growing relationship with Israel, the CEDDERT executive director noted that Nigeria had historically positioned itself as a defender of religious freedom, plural coexistence and anti-colonial justice.
“For Nigeria to deepen ties with Israel at this historical moment is not merely a strategic miscalculation; it is a profound moral failure,” he said.
Mohammed further alleged that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 had resulted in widespread humanitarian devastation, including the destruction of civilian infrastructure and large-scale displacement of people.
“What is unfolding is collective punishment on a massive scale,” he said.
He cited comments by senior Israeli officials and views expressed by some genocide scholars, including Israeli academic Prof. Omer Bartov, who reportedly stated: “I know genocide when I see it. My inescapable conclusion is that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
According to CEDDERT, Nigeria’s alignment with Israel at a time when several countries were condemning Israel’s actions and South Africa had approached the International Court of Justice could further polarise the country internally.
“Reducing Nigeria’s security challenges to a narrative of religious persecution is profoundly dishonest and risks inflaming sectarian tensions,” Mohammed warned.
The organisation also expressed fears that external influence over Nigeria’s security and foreign policy decisions could weaken the country’s sovereignty and deepen existing ethno-religious and regional divisions.
“Nigeria today is already burdened by religious polarisation, ethno-regional mistrust, insurgency, and declining public confidence in the state,” he said.
CEDDERT, therefore, called on President Tinubu “to urgently reconsider—and reverse—this dangerous course and restore Nigeria’s historic role as a principled, sovereign and respected actor in the international community.”
