By RismadarVoice Media
December 22, 2025
The Federal Government has officially designated kidnappers and violent armed groups as terrorists, marking a significant escalation in Nigeria’s response to widespread abductions, attacks on farmers, and rural insecurity.
The announcement was made on Monday by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, during the Federal Government’s end-of-year press briefing in Abuja.
According to the minister, the new policy represents a decisive shift from treating mass kidnappings and armed rural violence as conventional crimes to confronting them under full counterterrorism frameworks.
“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 terrorist,” Idris declared.
He stressed that the government would no longer tolerate vague labels for violent actors operating across the country.
“Now, the era of ambiguous nomenclature is over. If you terrorize our people, as a group or an individual, you are a terrorist, will be classified as such. There is no name hiding under this again,” the minister said.
Idris explained that the designation would strengthen intelligence sharing and operational coordination among security agencies, enabling faster, more decisive responses to security threats.
He noted that enhanced inter-agency collaboration had already yielded results, citing the arrest of two internationally wanted criminals in 2025 through coordinated security operations.
As part of measures to secure vulnerable rural communities, the minister also announced the deployment of trained and fully equipped forest guards across the country.
He said the forest guards would combine surveillance, local intelligence gathering, and rapid-response capabilities to secure forests and remote areas frequently used as hideouts by criminal groups.
The forest guard initiative, he added, is expected to disrupt criminal supply routes, dismantle camps, and restore confidence among farming communities that have been severely affected by insecurity.
Highlighting recent successes in counterterrorism efforts, Idris disclosed the arrest of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) leader residing in Nigeria, describing him as one of the most wanted terrorists on the African continent, with a substantial bounty previously placed on him by the United States.
“The most internationally wanted criminals, the ISWAP head residing in Nigeria, has been captured through the coordination of all the security agencies and those also in the intelligence community,” he said.
He also recalled the earlier arrest of Abu Barra, another high-profile terrorist, who was presented to the public by the National Security Adviser and other security chiefs.
“This is one of the most wanted terrorists in the African continent, and he was captured through the coordination of our security forces,” Idris noted, adding that the suspect and his chief of staff are currently undergoing trial.
“As we speak today, this man, together with his chief of staff, are having their day in court, and he is going to get justice that befits them,” the minister said.
By formally classifying kidnappers and violent armed groups as terrorists, the Federal Government is signaling zero tolerance for abductions and rural violence, while expanding the legal and operational powers available to security agencies in the fight against insecurity, nationwide.
