President Bola Tinubu has again vowed to deal with armed bandits, terrorists and other criminal elements unleashing terror on innocent Nigerians in different parts of the country.

Mr Tinubu, who gave the assurances while presenting the 2026 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Friday, said his administration would outline security architecture aimed at confronting violent crimes more aggressively in the country.

“We will usher in a new era of criminal justice. We will show no mercy to those who commit or support acts of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom and other violent crimes,” the president said.

Mr Tinubu further said his administration is committed to resetting the national security architecture and establishing a new national counterterrorism doctrine rooted in unified command, intelligence gathering, community stability and counter-insurgency.

He stated, “Our administration is resetting the national security architecture and establishing a new national counterterrorism doctrine, a holistic redesign anchored on unified command, intelligence gathering, community stability, and counter-insurgency. This new doctrine will fundamentally change how we confront terrorism and other violent crimes.”

The president said under this new architecture, any armed group or gun-wielding non-state actors operating outside state authority would be regarded as terrorists, adding “bandits, militias, armed gangs, armed robbers, violent cults, forest-based armed groups and foreign-linked mercenaries will all be targeted.”

While highlighting the critical need for investment in security agencies, Mr Tinubu vowed to also go relentlessly after people pursuing sectorial agenda and their financiers.

“We will go after all those who perpetrate violence for political or sectarian ends, along with those who finance and facilitate their evil schemes. We will invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes, because security spending must deliver results.

“To secure our country, our priority will remain on increasing the fighting capability of our armed forces and other security agencies and boosting the effectiveness of our fighting forces with cutting-edge equipment and other hardware,” the president stated.

Mr Tinubu’s declaration came amid a wave of escalating killings and kidnappings by bandits and other criminal elements, forcing governments to close down schools in Kwara, Niger, Kebbi and others.

The Senate also recently adopted various security resolutions, officially designating kidnapping and banditry as acts of terrorism and approving the maximum death penalty for all kidnapping-related offences.

Alarmed by the worsening security, lawmakers particularly approved the creation of a new Joint Task Force (JTF) to strengthen security across the Kwara–Kogi axis, with stronger military reinforcement in affected states.

Meanwhile, Mr Tinubu, in November, declared a nationwide security emergency and ordered fresh recruitment into the Armed Forces to reinforce ongoing operations across the country.