Terrorism is an act of political violence which cause fear and inflict pains; destructions and loss of lives which are mostly carried out by Nation-States, criminal gangs and sometimes unorganized individuals.
But development can only be carried out and sustained by human and it can not occur without peace and not just peace but people living without fear totally committed to congenial existence within the society. That is why the state of destructive insecurity being experienced presently in the northern Nigeria is unfortunate and regrettable. Terrorist groups exist all over world mostly in third-world countries while their activities are mainly political in nature it has direct effect on the economic development of the area where they operate. So many lives and property had been destroyed within the last five (5) years in the Northern Nigeria; effort made by the federal and state governments in the region to curb the man made disaster was all in vain. This study therefore examined the causes, what, why and how terrorism and terror groups in the northern Nigeria can be curtailed so that development can be sustained in that geo-political region. The study also concluded that concerted efforts must be made by both government and private sector to wage an all frontier war on armed criminal gangs by whatever name they call themselves.