Presidential hopeful of the African Democratic Congress, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, has vowed to formally designate bandits and kidnapping syndicates as terrorist organisations if elected president in 2027, saying Nigeria can no longer tolerate widespread insecurity and organised criminality.
Speaking at the Mohammed Hayatu-Deen Townhall organised by Team Rebuild in Abuja on Friday, the former banker and economist promised a broad crackdown on violent criminal groups, stressing that his administration would adopt a zero-tolerance stance on insecurity from the first day in office.
Hayatu-Deen said the increasing wave of kidnappings, bandit attacks and violent crimes across the country had exposed weaknesses in state institutions and eroded public confidence in government.
Nigeria has in recent years experienced a surge in armed banditry, mass abductions, terrorist attacks and communal violence, particularly across the North-West, North-Central and North-East regions, with thousands of people displaced and repeated attacks on schools, farms, highways and rural communities.
Security experts and civil society organisations have repeatedly criticised the government’s response, pointing to weak coordination, poor intelligence gathering and limited deterrent prosecutions as factors enabling criminal networks.
Addressing supporters at the town hall, Hayatu-Deen said the country must stop “normalising fear, criminality, and lawlessness.”
He described insecurity as one of the most serious threats to Nigeria’s survival, economic stability and national cohesion.
“That is why, on Day One of my administration, bandits and kidnapping syndicates will be formally designated as terrorist organisations,” Hayatu-Deen declared.
“Every bandit and every kidnapper will be prosecuted under the Terrorism Act. The assets of individuals and networks financing criminality will be identified and frozen. And the era of negotiating endlessly with violent criminal networks must come to an end,” he added.
Under Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, designated groups are subject to stricter prosecution measures, including asset seizures, disruption of financing channels and enhanced criminal penalties.
Hayatu-Deen argued that successive governments had failed to confront insecurity with sufficient urgency, warning that millions of Nigerians now live in fear while economic activity continues to suffer.
He described the crisis as both a national tragedy and a reflection of leadership failure, adding that no meaningful economic development can occur where citizens cannot move freely or invest with confidence.
The ADC aspirant also shared a personal account of how insecurity affected his family, revealing that his sister was abducted and held captive for three years.
“I grew up in Borno State. My family has experienced the painful realities of insecurity. My sister was kidnapped and held for three years,” he said.
“I understand what insecurity does to a family, to a community, and to the confidence of an entire nation.”
Borno State remains one of the epicentres of Nigeria’s long-running insurgency linked to Boko Haram and other armed groups, with years of violence leaving thousands dead and millions displaced across the North-East.
Hayatu-Deen maintained that Nigeria’s security challenges cannot be solved through rhetoric or temporary political measures, insisting that disciplined leadership, effective law enforcement and economic reforms must work together.
He also argued that rising unemployment, poverty and hopelessness continue to fuel recruitment into criminal and extremist networks, stressing that job creation is central to reducing insecurity.
“Jobs also help reduce the supply of recruits available to criminal gangs, terrorists, and violent networks,” he stated.
