The Federal Government of Nigeria has formally classified kidnappers, bandits and other violent armed groups as terrorists, in a significant escalation of its strategy to tackle widespread insecurity that has plagued large parts of the country.

Announced on Monday during the government’s end-of-year press briefing in Abuja, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the designation marks a departure from treating mass kidnappings, attacks on farming communities and other forms of rural violence as ordinary criminal activity.

Under the new classification, heinous acts committed by organised armed groups, including abductions for ransom, terrorising of communities and other violent offences, will now fall under Nigeria’s counterterrorism framework, enabling security agencies to deploy stronger legal tools and more robust operational responses.

Idris told journalists that the move is intended to close legal loopholes that have, in the past, restricted the full deployment of counter-terror measures against perpetrators of large-scale violence across the country’s north and other regions.

“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,” the minister said, reinforcing the government’s determination to confront insecurity comprehensively.

Security analysts say the policy shift could enable courts to apply tougher sanctions under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act and expand military and intelligence operations against these groups.

However, civil liberties advocates have previously cautioned that such broad designations must be coupled with safeguards to avoid abuse and ensure due process.

The bandits designation follows longstanding calls from governors, lawmakers, and security experts for firmer legal tools to counter organised violence in rural and semi-urban communities, where bandit attacks have killed and displaced thousands over recent years.

The government’s decision comes amid ongoing efforts to unify the national security architecture and improve coordination between military, police, intelligence and local enforcement agencies.