The Federal Government has officially designated kidnappers, bandits and other violent armed groups as terrorists, marking a significant escalation in Nigeria’s response to abductions, attacks on farmers and rural insecurity.

The announcement was made on Monday by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, during an end-of-year press briefing in Abuja.

According to the minister, the decision represents a shift from treating mass kidnappings and rural attacks as conventional crimes to confronting them under the full framework of counterterrorism operations.

“Henceforth, any armed group or individual that kidnaps our children, attacks our farmers or terrorises our communities is officially classified and will be dealt with as a terrorist.

“The era of ambiguous nomenclature is over. If you terrorise our people, whether as a group or an individual, you are a terrorist. There will be no hiding under any name again,” Idris said.

He explained that the new classification would enhance intelligence sharing and operational coordination among security agencies, enabling faster, more decisive and coordinated responses to security threats.

Idris noted that improved inter-agency collaboration had already yielded results, revealing that two of the most internationally wanted criminals were apprehended in 2025 through coordinated security operations.

As part of efforts to secure vulnerable rural areas, the minister also announced the deployment of trained and fully equipped forest guards to combat criminal activities in forests and remote locations often used as hideouts by armed groups.

He said the forest guards would combine surveillance, local intelligence gathering and rapid-response capabilities to dismantle criminal camps, disrupt supply routes and reassure farming communities affected by persistent insecurity.

By formally classifying kidnappers and bandits as terrorists, the government, he said, is signalling zero tolerance for abductions and rural violence, while expanding the operational powers of security agencies.

Highlighting recent successes, Idris disclosed the arrest of the ISWAP leader residing in Nigeria, described as one of the most wanted terrorists on the African continent, who had a substantial bounty placed on him by the United States.

“This individual, along with his chief of staff, was apprehended through the coordination of all security and intelligence agencies,” he said, adding that the suspects were currently facing trial.

He also recalled the earlier capture of Abu Barra, another high-profile terrorist, stressing that both arrests underscored the effectiveness of inter-agency cooperation in Nigeria’s ongoing counterterrorism efforts.