The Federal Government has formally designated kidnappers, bandits and other violent armed groups as terrorists, marking a tougher national response to abductions, attacks on farmers and rural insecurity.
The announcement was made on Monday in Abuja by Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information, during the government’s end-of-year press briefing. The move shifts mass kidnappings and rural violence from being treated as conventional crimes to offences subject to full counterterrorism measures.
Idris said the new designation gives security agencies wider powers to pursue, disrupt and dismantle criminal networks, while improving intelligence sharing and operational coordination across agencies.
“In 2025 alone, two of the world’s most internationally wanted criminals were arrested through enhanced inter-agency collaboration,” he disclosed.
To deny criminals safe havens, the government will also deploy trained forest guards nationwide. The guards are expected to secure forests and remote areas long used by kidnappers and militants as hideouts, especially in farming and border communities.
According to Idris, the initiative will combine surveillance, local intelligence and rapid-response capabilities to close security gaps beyond major cities.
Why it matters
Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis has worsened sharply. Data from SBM Intelligence shows that between July 2024 and June 2025:
- 4,722 Nigerians were kidnapped in 997 incidents
- 762 people were killed in kidnapping-related violence
- Kidnappers demanded ₦48 billion in ransom
- Only ₦2.56 billion, about 5.35 per cent, was actually paid
By classifying kidnappers as terrorists and deploying forest guards, the government says it is signalling zero tolerance for abductions, tightening security control in ungoverned spaces and restoring confidence in vulnerable rural and farming communities.
