South West Governors Renew Demand for State Police as Kidnapping Crisis Triggers Emergency Actions

The governors of the South West have renewed their call for the creation of state police, a move they say has become unavoidable as Nigeria confronts a growing wave of kidnappings and attacks that has unsettled communities and forced schools to shut their doors. The leaders met in Ibadan on Monday where they approved a regional security fund to strengthen joint operations across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti. The fund will be managed through the DAWN Commission and coordinated by security advisers from the six states. They also endorsed a digital intelligence sharing system designed to deliver real time alerts and streamline joint responses to threats. The governors said the region could no longer afford fragmented efforts, especially with armed groups expanding their operations along forest corridors and border communities. In a communique read after the meeting, the governors warned that current policing structures are overstretched and unable to suppress the rising cases of kidnapping, bandit attacks and other organized crimes. They reiterated that only state controlled policing can match the scale and speed of the threats facing the region. Their position comes as the country deals with a surge of abductions that has pushed several states into emergency security meetings. School closures have increased in recent weeks, driven by concerns over the safety of pupils following raids on educational institutions in parts of the country. The South West response signals a growing shift towards regional collaboration as states look for solutions beyond the traditional federal approach. There is now mounting pressure on the central government to consider reforms that would allow states to take charge of their own policing. For now, the governors appear determined to fortify the region through shared resources and intelligence, insisting that the situation has reached a point where decisive structural changes can no longer be delayed. The coming weeks will show whether the momentum they have built will lead to broader national action.

| 2025-11-25 07:33:48