By Babs Oyetoro
Northern political and traditional leaders on Monday reaffirmed their backing for the immediate establishment of state police, warning that Nigeria’s overstretched centralised policing system is no longer capable of protecting citizens across the vast northern corridor.
Meeting in Kaduna under the auspices of the Northern Governors’ Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, the leaders said the country’s current security structure has failed to keep pace with Nigeria’s explosive population growth, rising crime patterns, ungoverned territories, and socio-economic distress that has become a breeding ground for criminal networks.
Their latest intervention comes at a time the North continues to grapple with intensified banditry, mass abductions, farmer-herder clashes, and the collapse of economic activities in several rural communities, threats which the leaders warned could metastasise beyond control without urgent structural reforms.
At the opening of the meeting hosted by Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, participants acknowledged that the grim realities confronting the North, from mass displacement to shrinking agricultural output, have reached an inflexion point.
They stressed that the region could no longer rely solely on federal policing, especially with fewer than 400,000 officers spread thin across a nation of over 200 million people.
Sani, in his welcome remarks, said it was time to face the truth about Nigeria’s incapacity to police itself under a centralised model that leaves rural and peri-urban communities dangerously exposed.
He said narratives suggesting that northern governors had become complacent were politically motivated distortions pushed by those who profit from insecurity and public distrust.
Sani insisted that governors in the region hold frequent consultations, share intelligence, compare tactics and evaluate results among themselves, adding that their informal peer-review mechanism consistently tests innovative ideas and replicates what works across state borders.
He argued that despite the criticism, “every governor sitting here works tirelessly to secure our communities,” stressing that the demand for results must be matched by reforms that allow states to assume greater control over internal security.
According to him, Nigeria’s population, demographic pressures, and the growing number of ungoverned spaces make a compelling case for decentralised policing structures rooted in local knowledge and community intelligence systems.
The Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, warned that the threats facing the region have become multidimensional and indiscriminate, affecting citizens of all faiths and ethnicities.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for taking what he called “decisive efforts” to secure the nation, despite growing international scrutiny and pressures.
He urged international partners to respect Nigeria’s sovereignty and complexities when offering support.
Yahaya argued that the North must avoid encouraging “simplistic, divisive and one-sided narratives” that weaken national cohesion and give terrorists and criminal gangs the psychological advantage they seek, discord and mutual suspicion.
He emphasised that the roots of the crisis extend beyond armed groups, noting that decades of underdevelopment, illiteracy, youth unemployment, mismanaged natural resources, climate change pressures and environmental degradation have created fertile ground for conflict and crime.
The Governor said that millions of northern children roaming the streets without access to schooling not only distorts the region’s demographic future but also creates a dangerous pipeline of potential recruits for violent groups.
He declared that the leaders must “move beyond rhetoric” and commit to a coordinated plan that prioritises human capital development, massive infrastructure investments, energy access, agricultural revitalisation and youth empowerment, policies he described as critical weapons in the broader fight against insecurity.
Reaffirming the forum’s earlier position, Yahaya said state policing is an unavoidable reform that must be fast-tracked by the National Assembly, especially now that President Tinubu has openly endorsed constitutional amendments to enable the process.
*Traditional rulers caution governors, seek deeper engagement
Traditional rulers, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, expressed deep concern over the cumulative impact of insecurity on the region’s economy and social fabric.
The Sultan urged governors to take criticisms more seriously, saying constructive feedback from citizens, civil society, and political opponents should be seen as an asset for strengthening governance rather than a threat.
He noted that no leader deliberately abandons citizens after elections, but warned that ignoring criticism often leads to policy blind spots that worsen insecurity, hunger, poverty and disaffection.
The Sultan also called for more structured, frequent engagements between governors and traditional institutions across northern states, insisting that the existing informal channels of communication were insufficient for the scale of the current crisis.
He maintained that traditional rulers, who hold deep grassroots ties, must play a more defined role in shaping the region’s security and development strategies.
*Monarch, six others stage dramatic midnight escape after vigilantes ambush bandits in Kwara forests
Meanwhile, in what community members have described as a miraculous escape, a traditional ruler in Kwara State, the Ojibara of Bayagan in Ifelodun Local Government, Alhaji Kamilu Salami, regained his freedom alongside six other abductees after a fierce confrontation between vigilantes and the bandits holding them hostage.
The dramatic development unfolded late Saturday into early Sunday deep inside the Eku Idaji forest corridor near Igbaja, where the vigilante teams had tracked the kidnappers following the monarch’s abduction earlier in the day.
Credible local sources said the vigilantes mounted a surprise offensive, engaging the heavily armed kidnappers in a prolonged gunfire exchange that forced the gang to scatter into the forest, giving the hostages a rare opportunity to flee.
Though the monarch and the other escapees had not yet returned home when the sources spoke, they were able to contact community members by phone to confirm their freedom and give brief accounts of their ordeal.
Before the escape, the bandits had demanded a ransom of N150 million and forced the monarch to speak with community leaders to prove he was alive.
He had narrated how the kidnappers transported him on a motorcycle for over five hours into the forest, revealing that several other persons abducted from neighbouring communities were also being held.
The Ojibara, deeply distressed, pleaded with his people to “come to his rescue” and negotiate with the abductors for his release before the vigilantes launched the rescue operation that ultimately disrupted the gang’s activities.
Efforts to obtain official confirmation or comments from the Kwara State Police Command were unsuccessful as officers did not respond to enquiries.
The escape of the Kwara monarch once again underscores the mounting threats facing traditional rulers, who have increasingly come under attack as kidnappers target rural institutions of authority to sow fear, weaken community cohesion and extract high ransoms.
The northern leaders at the Kaduna meeting cited such incidents as evidence that the current internal security structure is no longer tenable, arguing that state police, when properly structured with oversight mechanisms, would create faster response systems and more effective intelligence gathering at the local level.
They reiterated that the North has reached a critical moment in which political leaders, traditional institutions, and security stakeholders must unite around bold reforms rather than engage in rhetorical blame games.
Monday’s meeting ended with a shared agreement that decentralised policing, massive investment in human capital, and a united regional strategy were indispensable for reversing the spiralling insecurity.
Governors from Kaduna, Gombe, Zamfara, Niger, Nasarawa and Bauchi were physically present, while several others were represented by their deputies.
Leading traditional rulers across the region joined the deliberations, marking one of the most extensive political-traditional security consultations held in recent months.
