President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, October 3, warned terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal elements that their time was up.

The president urged them to give up their nefarious activities or be taken out by security agencies.

Tinubu said this at the inaugural News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) International Lecture themed: “Interrogating the Root Cause of Violence in the Sahel, and Its Impact on Nigeria’s Territorial Integrity.”

Represented by National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, Tinubu said the country has been “going through hell” at the hands of terrorists and other criminals.

He said: “Enough is enough. This has to stop. And it will stop. In the last one year, no fewer than 300 Boko Haram commanders have been eliminated while cases of kidnapping for ransom are on the decline. This is a warning to them. They have limited time. Examples have been set. They have seen what is happening to their own leaders, if they refuse to surrender, the same fate awaits them.

“The non-kinetic approach is still important. Our windows are open, our doors are open if you are ready to come and surrender and stop, otherwise, you know what is going to happen to you, whoever you are.”

The president said as part of efforts to tackle the security challenges, his administration has adopted a multifaceted approach as enshrined in the Renewed Hope Agenda which prioritized security as a critical component of government focus.

According to him, his administration, in the last year, has put in place processes, policies and programs to achieve improved security, economic development, and improved welfare for all Nigerians.

He said: “In particular, our six key security objectives have included strengthening institutions and promoting accountability to address the root causes of insecurity as well as investing in job creation, infrastructure development, and social services to reduce poverty and inequality.

“We have developed both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies in considerably eliminating the threats of Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and violent extremists.”

The president said his administration was committed to working with countries in the Sahel region to tackle the root causes of insecurity in the region.

“As a chair of our regional bloc ECOWAS, we are strengthening regional collaboration with neighbouring countries to share intelligence, coordinate security efforts, and address common challenges,” Tinubu said.

“We are happy with what the Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa did, he visited Niger and hopefully things are beginning to look better with our brother and we will even do more. We want peace, we want security. We are not enemies with anybody.

“I am happy that we renewed the onslaught by our gallant troops against enemies of our nation in the Northeast and North West. Our citizens can now heave a sigh of relief. We shall continue to provide our armed forces with the needed human and material resources to achieve success. No doubt there is no time other than now for all of us to work together to build a safer and more prosperous Nigeria,” he said.

In his remarks, former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was the chairman of the event, said Nigeria’s security challenges could not be divorced from the regional heritage in the Sahel, “a vast landmass which encompasses the troubled countries of Burkina, Chad, Mali, and Cameroon.”

He lamented that the Sahel is still a huge killing field despite efforts by successive governments.

According to him: “In the year 2020, a whopping 4,660 people were killed in this region, while another 2,600 civilians lost their lives in banditry attacks in 2021.

“Today, Your Excellencies, this region is still one huge killing field, despite the best efforts of successive governments there.”

Abubakar noted that at the heart of the insecurity in the Sahel region were the undercurrents of poverty, unemployment, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, weak governance, and institutional failures, as well as climate change and environmental degradation.

He said these factors have created a fertile ground for insecurity to thrive, with devastating impacts on our dear nation.

“We must not, however, lose faith in our capacity to ride above the storms of insecurity, since this challenge is the business of every Nigerian, and indeed, all Africans,” Abubakar said.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, reaffirmed the commitment of the present administration to tackling insecurity in the country through improved investment in equipment, manpower, and intelligence gathering.

Idris acknowledged that the Sahel region has become a vortex of instability, violence, terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, smuggling of weapons, and violent extremism with a spillover effect on Nigeria due to the country’s porous borders with the region.

He said: “Nigeria shares a long and porous border with several Sahelian countries caught up in conflict, making us vulnerable to the spillover effects of the conflict. This not only threatens our security but also challenges our capacity to maintain effective control over our borders.

“Several scholars and experts had earlier attributed these challenges to socioeconomic marginalization, weak governance structures, environmental degradation and climate change, transnational organized crime, and illegal trafficking in arms among others but the spillover effect of these conflicts is taking its toll on our economy, internal security and the socio-economic well-being of our people,” he said.