Designation of kidnappers, bandits as terrorists

By Emeka Alex Duru

The designation of kidnappers and violent armed groups operating in the country as terrorists, was one of the measures by the Federal Government in the dying days of 2025 that aligned with the thinking of many Nigerians. Shorn of the trademark propaganda and populist posturing of the Bola Tinubu administration, it was one bold move that marked a strategic escalation in Nigeria’s response to abductions, attacks on farmers, and community violence.

The classification also signalled a shift from treating mass kidnappings and rural attacks as ordinary crimes and confronting them under full counterterrorism measures. What remains is the will to translate the pronouncement to action. That, incidentally, is where Nigerians may have to bother and wait longer, knowing the lethargy with which the government treats issues that interest groups can twist against the 2027 second term agenda of the President.

Government’s change of action was made by the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, during the end-of-year press briefing in Abuja. Idris said; “Henceforth, any armed group or individual that kidnaps our children, attacks our farmers, and terrorises our communities is officially classified and will be dealt with as a terrorist.

“Now, the era of ambiguous nomenclature is over. If you terrorise our people, whether you are a group or you are an individual, you are a terrorist and will be classified as such. There is no name hiding under this again”. According to the Minister, the policy would strengthen intelligence sharing and operational coordination across security agencies, allowing for faster and more decisive action. By classifying kidnappers as terrorists, the government is signalling zero tolerance for abductions and rural violence, while expanding the powers of security forces.

There could not have been a better way and time to confront the menace. Terrorism is ideological, hence the saying; a terrorist is a dead man! Terrorism entails the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The agenda is to instill fear, wide spread insecurity and render victims vulnerable. Terrorists leverage fear as a strategic tool to influence decision makers. This is why it is dangerous to negotiate with them or their sponsors. Terrorists operate on the frameworks of entitlement and blackmail. They do not keep to their terms but rather ask for more concessions. They can hardly be appeased or bought off. That is the same character trait of bandits and kidnappers. Terrorists only yield to the language of force and superior action.

Kidnappers, bandits, insurgents or whatever names they bear, are like soulless gods that cannot be appeased. They always make demands that their victims and government must attend to if only to keep them momentarily at bay. For the Tinubu government that has manifested uncommon trend in waste and frivolity, that has opened another conduit for corrupt officials and intermediaries to fritter the nation’s resources. More worrisome is that with the hoodlums being pampered, Nigeria can no longer lay sufficient claims to being in in charge and control of its citizens and territory.

For long, the authorities in Nigeria hade allowed the kidnappers and bandits free hand to roam and take over. In the process, they dictated the pace, while the citizens tag along, living at their mercy and whims. It is good that the government is rising to the occasion.

The action by the government comes as a follow-up to the recent move by the President in which he declared a state of emergency in security and rolled out measures to free the country from criminal elements. In particular, the President had charged the service chiefs to intensify efforts to defeat terrorism, banditry, and other criminal activities across the country. Tinubu equally tasked the new military chiefs to dismantle the activities of emerging armed groups that have regrouped in some parts of the country.

In similar stead, the Senate has taken courageous steps in prescribing death penalty for anyone convicted of kidnapping or other acts classified as terrorism. The move followed a bill which seeks to amend the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act by designating kidnapping and related offences as acts of terrorism and prescribing the death penalty for those found guilty, including financiers and informants. Under the proposal, once a court establishes a kidnapping conviction, the maximum penalty must be applied.

These are steps in the right direction. They add to an earlier 2021 pronouncement by the Federal Government which designated bandits as terrorists. The 2021 classification came after a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja proscribed bandit groups in the country. A government gazette announcing the declaration was signed on November 29, 2021, days after the court order. There is no doubt that kidnapping, banditry and terrorism constitute the greatest danger to Nigeria and its economy, affecting its foreign direct investment (FDI) profile negatively. Some of the bandits are not merely involved in looting and pillaging but are also members of the Boko Haram terrorist group. While they strike, they leave in their trail destruction and sorrow.

Recent reports of attacks by bandits in Borno and Katsina states, in which many people were killed, point to the extent the criminals could go in harming the citizens and their property. In Borno, at least 40 farmers were killed by the hoodlums. Within the same period, 21 persons were killed and several others declared missing after suspected bandits invaded Baure village in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State. Within two weeks in December, bandits launched attacks across the North, abducting monarchs, worshippers, a bride, students and travellers in coordinated wave of violence that resulted to least 490 captives. The raids which cut across Sokoto, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Borno and the Federal Capital Territory, disrupted rural communities and forced residents to flee their homes. In Abuja, seven mourners, comprising six girls and a 16-year-old boy, were kidnapped on November 28 at Gidan Bijimi in the Bwari Area Council. The same day in Niger State, 24 farm workers, including pregnant women, were abducted from Palaita village in Shiroro council. Earlier on November 18, 38 worshippers were abducted during a Thanksgiving service in Eruku, Ekiti LGA of Kwara State, with three persons killed. In Borno, three days later, precisely on November 23, ISWAP militants kidnapped 12 teenage girls aged 15–20 from a farm in the Mussa district of Askira/Uba LGA. Though some of the victims were later released, the attacks indicate the ferocity of kidnapping and banditry in the country.

The situation cannot be allowed to continue. Now that kidnappers and bandits have been declared terrorists, they should no longer be treated with kid gloves. Let the government move against them and their sponsors squarely. This is the time to put an end to their activities. It is only the government that should have monopoly of the instrument of violence, especially in ensuring law and order. It is not enough for the federal Government to declare the kidnappers and bandits as terrorists. Relevant legislations and actions should be invoked against them.

Strategic measures and more effective actions to contain their menace, dismantle their cells in and out of the country, are needed. Government should put in everything possible, including enhanced intelligence sharing among the security agencies in the country to deal with them. With the declaration by the Federal Government, the military and other security agents no longer have excuses in moving against the kidnappers and bandits wherever they may be. Now, the rules of engagements are clearly spelt out. This is the time to deploy gadgets and technologies against the criminals.

DURU is the Editor, TheNiche Newspapers, Lagos