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Buhari IIMinister of Defence· August 2019 — May 2023

Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd)

Defence Minister during the End SARS protests and the rise of mass abductions.

The record

Bashir Salihi Magashi (b. 1947, Kano) was a member of the Supreme Military Council under Babangida and former Military Administrator of Sokoto State (1990–1992).

His tenure as Defence Minister coincided with the Kankara abduction (December 2020), the Kagara and Jangebe abductions (February 2021), and the Plateau, Zamfara and Kaduna village massacres of 2021–2022. His February 2021 remark that abduction victims should fight back rather than 'be cowards' drew nationwide condemnation.

Sources

  • Nigeria Security Tracker — Council on Foreign Relations
  • BBC Pidgin, 'Magashi tell Nigerians to fight bandits' (February 2021)
Methodology

Tier 1 · primary

Courts. Gazettes. National archives.

Tier 2 · corroborating

OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.

Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged

Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.