Governors of the 19 Northern states in Nigeria have intensified calls for the establishment of state police, declaring that Nigeria’s worsening security situation can no longer be effectively addressed through a centralized policing system alone.
The governors made the declaration on Wednesday after a joint meeting of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council in Kaduna, where they also unveiled the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund (NNSTF) and pledged a collective ₦1 billion monthly contribution to strengthen regional security operations.
The forum described state police as an “urgent and strategic imperative,” arguing that the country’s current security architecture is overstretched in confronting terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes spreading across the North.
Host Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State said insecurity had become a regional challenge that demands coordinated responses rather than isolated efforts by individual states.
“The security challenges confronting Northern Nigeria require coordinated responses anchored on partnership, trust and shared responsibility,” Sani said.
The governors commended President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly for advancing constitutional reforms aimed at creating state police, expressing optimism that decentralised policing would improve intelligence gathering, community policing and rapid response to security threats.
As part of resolutions reached at the meeting, the governors inaugurated the Board of Trustees of the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund to mobilise resources, support intelligence sharing and complement federal security operations.
Chairman of the forum and Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, said the initiative was designed to ensure Northern states play a more active role in addressing insecurity while supporting federal efforts.
“The Trust Fund must not become another layer of bureaucracy. It must remain a practical platform for resource mobilisation, security coordination and intelligence collaboration,” Yahaya said.
The forum also urged member states to redeem their commitments to contribute ₦1 billion monthly over the next year to sustain the initiative, noting that the fund would strengthen regional cooperation against banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of criminality.
The meeting was attended by governors, deputy governors, senior government officials, security experts and traditional rulers, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who pledged the full support of traditional institutions to the initiative and called for closer collaboration between communities and security agencies.
The renewed endorsement of state police comes amid growing nationwide debate over constitutional amendments to decentralise Nigeria’s policing system, with several state governments arguing that localised policing has become essential to tackling evolving security threats across the country.
