Against the backdrop of escalating banditry and recurrent mass abductions across the region, North-west political and traditional leaders have called for a new security architecture in the area.
They made the call in Kaduna on Saturday at the North-West Zonal Security Summit attended by federal lawmakers, top security chiefs, traditional rulers and senior government officials, including the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar.
The summit was organised by the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on National Security and themed “Building Robust Regional Collaborations to Tackle Insecurity: Pathways for Securing the Future.”
Its aims include strengthening cooperation among security agencies and governments across Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.
Key proposal from stakeholders
Kaduna governor Uba Sani presented some of the most far-reaching proposals, calling for the establishment of a North-West theatre command to unify the Nigerian Army’s 1st and 8th Divisions.
He said the measure would fast-track intelligence sharing, enhance coordinated operations and dismantle the cross-state criminal networks driving insecurity.
Mr Sani also urged the expansion of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic to disrupt arms trafficking and deny bandits and terror groups cross-border sanctuaries.
He argued that military action alone is insufficient, advocating state and local security committees involving traditional rulers, clerics, women, youth groups, civil society and security agencies as early-warning and trust-building platforms.
Renewing the call for state police, the governor said Nigeria’s centralised policing system can no longer meet the needs of a nation of 230 million people, especially with fewer than 400,000 officers available to secure vast ungoverned spaces.
The Minister of Defence, Mr Badaru, reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to a more adaptive national security architecture.
He highlighted gains recorded through joint operations across Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi, including the reopening of key routes and the revival of formerly deserted markets in Kaura Namoda, Shinkafi, Batsari, Giwa and Kajuru.
He also noted that many displaced communities and schools had reopened, though the region still faces persistent attacks by bandits and terror cells.
Delivering the keynote address, Muhammad Isa, a professor at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, argued that current security strategies are failing due to fragmentation, inadequate coordination, overstretched security institutions, weak intelligence systems and the absence of a comprehensive regional framework.
Even when tactical gains are recorded, he said, they rarely translate into sustainable peace because the structural drivers of insecurity remain unaddressed.
He called for robust regional collaboration capable of responding to the mobility of armed groups, dispersed forest enclaves and humanitarian spillovers.
Chairman of the organising committee, Babangida Hussaini, said the summit was convened to confront the worsening insecurity in the North-west and propose practical solutions.
He noted that the recommendations will feed into the National Security Summit scheduled for 1 December in Abuja, reflecting the federal government’s determination to adopt actionable, nationwide reforms.
Mr Hussaini commended Governor Uba Sani for his exceptional support in hosting the event.
Menace of insecurity in the North-west
The North-west remains one of Nigeria’s most volatile regions, suffering persistent banditry, mass abductions, village raids and large-scale displacement.
Armed groups move across vast forest corridors linking several states, exploiting weak policing, overstretched military formations and porous borders.
Farming has collapsed in many rural areas, schools have closed, and major trade routes remain unsafe.
Recent attacks highlight the deepening crisis: 24 schoolgirls were abducted in Kebbi State, while in Niger State, dozens were seized during the Papiri community attack, underscoring how the violence is spreading beyond traditional hotspots.
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Despite security operations and occasional gains, bandit networks continue to evolve, shifting bases across states and exploiting governance vacuums.
The humanitarian toll remains severe as thousands of families are displaced, livelihoods destroyed and communities traumatised.
The discussions at the Kaduna summit reflect growing consensus that insecurity in the North-west has become a multidimensional emergency requiring coordinated regional responses, long-term structural reforms and stronger community participation.
