The federal government has officially classified kidnappers, bandits and violent armed groups as terrorists. The announcement was made on Monday at the government’s end-of-year press briefing in Abuja by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris. The policy marks a clear departure from treating mass kidnappings, rural assaults and community violence as conventional crimes. Instead, these acts will now fall within the counter-terrorism framework, enabling the state to deploy stronger legal and operational...