The Federal Government of Nigeria has formally declared all armed groups operating across Nigeria as terrorist organisations, warning that any group involved in kidnapping, attacks on farmers, or the terrorisation of communities will henceforth be treated and prosecuted as terrorists.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made the declaration on Monday in Abuja during an end-of-year press conference, stressing that the era of “ambiguous nomenclature” was over.
“Let me be clear,” Idris said. “Henceforth, any armed group that kidnaps our children, attacks our farmers, or terrorises our communities is officially classified and will be dealt with as a terrorist organisation.”
According to the minister, the move is backed by a new national counterterrorism doctrine introduced in 2025 and anchored on four pillars: unified command, intelligence, community stability, and counterinsurgency.
He explained that President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a nationwide security emergency would soon translate into massive recruitment into the Armed Forces and Police, as well as the deployment of trained and well-equipped Forest Guards to secure forests and other vulnerable locations.
Idris also confirmed the release of the remaining 130 pupils abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, bringing the total number of freed pupils to 230.
“With this development, it can be confirmed that all the abducted pupils have been freed. Not a single pupil is left in captivity due to the efforts of our security agencies,” he said.
The minister said the Federal Government empathised with the parents of the pupils over the trauma of the abduction and wished the families healing, reunion, and a peaceful Christmas season. He added that decisive measures had been taken to ensure such mass abductions never occur again.
Looking ahead to 2026, Idris said the administration’s mission is to build “a secure, competitive, and prosperous Nigeria,” noting that security dominates the 2026 budget with a record allocation of ₦5.41 trillion—the largest single allocation to defence and security in Nigeria’s history.
He said the funding would support modern military equipment, a new national intelligence architecture, and a secure digital border surveillance system.
On economic performance, the minister said 2025 closed with strong indicators across key sectors. Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.98 percent in the third quarter of 2025, driven largely by the non-oil sector.
Headline inflation declined for eight consecutive months to 14.45 percent in November, while food inflation continued on a downward trend.
External reserves, he added, rose to about $44.56 billion, while Nigeria recorded a trade surplus of ₦6.69 trillion in the third quarter of 2025—up 27.29 percent year-on-year. Business confidence also strengthened, with the Purchasing Managers Index showing 12 consecutive months of expansion.
In the power sector, Idris said Nigeria recorded its highest-ever daily energy output of 128,370.75 megawatt-hours on March 4, 2025. He noted that the year also marked the launch of the Presidential Metering Initiative and the issuance of the first bond under the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme.
Investor confidence, he said, was further reflected in a massively oversubscribed Eurobond issuance, which attracted orders worth 400 percent of the $2.3 billion target.
“The temporary pains of reform are yielding permanent gains,” Idris said. “President Tinubu’s vision for Nigeria is big, his strategy unambiguous, and his resolve unshakeable. We are consolidating stability, protecting our homeland, empowering our youth, and building a nation where every citizen can thrive. Nigeria is truly on the move.”
