By Atoyebi Nike
The Federal Government has dismissed reports of a new terrorist group operating in Nigeria, following warnings by the Turkish government over the alleged presence of the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in the country.
Turkey’s Ambassador-designate to Nigeria, Mehmet Poroy, had on Tuesday alleged that the group, tied to the late cleric Fethullah Gulen, was using education and healthcare platforms to conceal its activities in Nigeria. Poroy made the claims at an event in Abuja marking Turkey’s Democracy and National Unity Day.
He described FETO’s presence as a threat and called on Nigerian authorities to remain vigilant.
In response, the Coordinator of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Maj. Gen. Adamu Laka, said there was no need for alarm. “There is no new terrorist group in Nigeria. There’s no need to panic,” he assured in an interview.
FETO is linked to Gulen, a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was convicted in absentia over the 2016 failed coup in Turkey. Gulen denied the accusations before his death in 2024, but the Erdogan-led administration declared his global network a terrorist group.
Though Gulen-affiliated organizations are reported to operate in Nigeria and other countries, there has been no official indication of terror-related activities linked to them within Nigerian territory.
