President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has vowed that terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and those financing criminal activities across the country will face severe consequences if they refuse to surrender.

Speaking during his Democracy Day national address marking Nigeria’s 27th consecutive year of democratic rule, the President declared that his administration would show no mercy to individuals involved in terrorism, kidnapping and related crimes.

“To bandits, kidnappers, and sponsors of terror: surrender or face the full force of the Nigerian State,” Tinubu said.

“These windows of surrender will not remain open forever. No mercy will be shown to those who trade in the blood of Nigerians.”

The President disclosed that more than 13,000 terrorists had been neutralised within the past year, while over 124,000 fighters and their dependants had laid down their arms through the Federal Government’s Operation Safe Corridor rehabilitation programme since 2023.

According to Tinubu, Nigeria has moved beyond military training partnerships with allies such as the United States and France to conducting precision operations against terrorist groups.

“We have moved from training with our allies, the United States, France and other European countries, to precision targeting. In Arege, Borno State, we degraded ISWAP’s command centre,” he said.

The President also noted that terror-related deaths had declined by 81 per cent since 2015, although he acknowledged that insecurity remains a major concern.

Tinubu said this year’s Democracy Day celebration was overshadowed by the continued captivity of schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oyo and Borno states, whose ordeal has lasted several weeks.

“Though this year’s mood is dampened by the abduction of our children in Oyo and Borno, we remain hopeful for their safe return. Democracy without security is a mirage,” he stated.

To strengthen security, Tinubu said his administration had approved the recruitment of over 50,000 police officers and thousands of military personnel to bridge manpower gaps.

He added that the 2026 budget allocates N5.41 trillion to defence and security, the largest security allocation in Nigeria’s history.

Tinubu concluded by urging Nigerians to remain united in the fight against insecurity, insisting that criminality should not be viewed through ethnic or religious lenses.

“Crime has no ethnicity. We must stand united and be assured that the enemies of our nation shall soon be history,” he said.