The 19 northern state governors will on Saturday, November 29, converge in Kaduna for an emergency security meeting aimed at addressing the worsening insecurity across the region. The high-level session, expected to host governors from the North-West, North-East and North-Central, will also feature leading traditional rulers whose involvement underscores the urgency of finding community-driven solutions to the escalating crisis.
According to regional officials, the meeting will focus on developing a unified security approach as banditry, insurgency, kidnapping and communal violence continue to devastate large parts of the North. In recent months, northern communities have witnessed repeated attacks—ranging from mass abductions in the North-West to renewed Boko Haram and ISWAP activities in the North-East, and persistent farmer–herder clashes in the North-Central. Thousands have been displaced, while rural economic activities, especially farming, have collapsed in several areas.
Kaduna, chosen as the venue, has itself suffered consistent bandit assaults in Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Igabi and Giwa, as well as highway kidnappings along the Abuja–Kaduna road. Similar patterns of violence persist in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger, where armed groups operate across state boundaries with ease. In Plateau and Benue, deadly communal conflicts have continued despite multiple security deployments.
The Northern Governors Forum is expected to deliberate on joint operations, intelligence sharing, community policing partnerships, improved funding for security, and stronger coordination with federal security agencies. Some governors have hinted that “decisive decisions” will be announced after the meeting, raising expectations that the region may adopt a more consolidated counter-insecurity strategy.
Stakeholders say the participation of traditional rulers—including emirs, chiefs and community heads—could help advance grassroots intelligence gathering and rebuild trust between security forces and local residents.
Saturday’s meeting comes amid growing public pressure on the governors to take collective action as insecurity increasingly spills across borders, cripples farming, disrupts schooling, and threatens stability in the entire northern region.