We must neutralise all terrorists in Nigeria, don’t accept bandits’ surrender – IBB tells FG

…‘I am calling for a total military crackdown on all militants’

…‘Criminals must first be completely dealt with without a show of mercy’

…’While the bandits are pleading for surrender, we must not accept their plea until every one of them is neutralized and eliminated’

Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB, a former Head of State has cautioned the Federal Government issuing a reprieve for any terrorist who may have given up banditry. Rather, he is asking that all terrorists should be neutralized and a crackdown placed on all the militants terrorizing the country.

IBB made this advice, pleading with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to disregard any appeals for surrender from bandits operating in different parts of the country, insisting that the criminals must first be completely dealt with.

Babangida revealed this in a post on his verified X handle, formerly Twitter, where he called for a decisive military response against armed groups terrorising communities nationwide.

According to the former leader, security agencies should prioritise the full neutralisation of bandits before considering dialogue or negotiations of any kind. He maintained that accepting surrender prematurely could undermine efforts to end insecurity.

“While the bandits are pleading for surrender, we must not accept their plea until every one of them is neutralised and eliminated,” Babangida wrote.

He added that once this is achieved, individuals he described as negotiators and sympathisers, including Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and others, should be invited for thorough questioning by the authorities.

The statement has since triggered widespread reactions on social media, with Nigerians expressing divergent views on the former leader’s hardline stance.

Some users threw their weight behind Babangida’s comments. A social media user identified as Dr. Jay supported the call, suggesting that those perceived as sympathisers should already be facing scrutiny by security agencies.

Others, however, raised concerns about shifting public sentiments. Another commenter, Phyno, argued that Nigerians often change opinions quickly, warning against sudden reversals in public support for controversial figures.

Also reacting, Ikechukwu described Babangida’s position as timely, stressing that it should be implemented strictly to achieve lasting security.

Babangida’s remarks come amid renewed national debates over the most effective strategies for tackling banditry, insurgency and rising insecurity across several regions of the country.

President Bola Tinubu on Friday announced a sweeping reset of Nigeria’s national security architecture, unveiling a new counterterrorism doctrine that classifies all armed groups operating outside state authority as terrorists, including bandits, militias, armed gangs, and their political or community enablers.

Speaking during the presentation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly, Tinubu said the new security overhaul represents a “holistic redesign” of Nigeria’s security framework, anchored on unified command, intelligence coordination, community stability and counter-insurgency operations.

“Our administration is resetting the national security architecture and establishing a new national counterterrorism doctrine; a holistic redesign anchored on unified command, intelligence, community stability, and counter-insurgency,” the president said.

“This new doctrine will fundamentally change how we confront terrorism and other violent crimes that have become existential threats to our corporate survival and have heightened anxiety among our people.”

Under the new framework, Tinubu said the government will no longer draw distinctions between different categories of violent non-state actors, declaring that any armed group acting outside the authority of the state would henceforth be treated as terrorists.

“Henceforth, and under this new architecture, any armed group or gun-wielding non-state actors operating outside state authority will be regarded as terrorists,” he said.

He listed those affected to include “bandits, militias, armed gangs, criminal networks with weapons, armed robbers, violent cult groups, forest-based armed collectives, and foreign-linked mercenaries,” adding that groups or individuals carrying out violence for “political, ethnic, financial, or sectarian objectives” would also fall under the terrorist classification.

Tinubu further warned that groups involved in extortion, kidnapping, or territorial control would face the same designation.

“Members of any group extorting communities, kidnapping civilians, occupying or seeking to occupy territory within Nigeria will be classified as terrorists,” he said.

“The denominator is that if you wield lethal weapons and act outside the state’s authority, you are a terrorist.”

Beyond armed actors, the president extended the classification to those who support or enable violent groups, including financiers and political intermediaries.

“Any individual or entity that enables the listed groups as financiers, money handlers, harbourers, informants, ransom facilitators, and negotiators will also be classified as terrorists,” Tinubu said.

He added that “political protectors and intermediaries, transporters, arms suppliers, and safe-house owners will be declared as terrorists,” while warning that even influential figures would not be exempt.

“Politicians, traditional rulers, community leaders, and religious leaders who facilitate and encourage violent actions and terror within Nigeria and against our citizens are also terrorists,” the president said.

*The Symbolism of the US strike!

Annihilating terrorists is an Islamic obligation. The Prophet – peace be upon him- wished he annihilated them. He said: “Should I live till they appear; I would kill them as the Killing of the nation of ‘Ad.” Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

This said, it should only be carried out by clean, holy hands, not by another terrorist whose hands are stained with the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent children, women, and men just recently.

This is the mistake Nigeria has made. Terrorists don’t fight terrorists in truth; they may only kill innocent people and have ulterior motives behind the drama of fighting ‘terror’.

As a principle, no nation should allow its land to be a theater of war. And no nation should allow its neighbors to be their enemies.

(Source: NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER with modified headline)