Tinubu Seeks Stronger Collaboration to Tackle North-Central Insecurity

By Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for stronger collaboration among governments, security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, communities and other stakeholders to tackle insecurity and restore lasting peace across the North-Central region.

Tinubu said military action alone would not resolve the region’s security challenges, stressing that sustainable peace requires tackling the social, economic and environmental factors driving violence.

The President spoke on Monday while declaring open the 2026 North-Central Regional Security Summit at the Benue State Government House in Makurdi.

Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, Tinubu urged traditional and religious leaders to serve as the first line of early warning and trusted voices of reconciliation in their communities.

He also called on residents to provide timely intelligence to security agencies and refuse to harbour criminals on the basis of kinship, ethnicity or sentiment.

Speaking on the summit’s theme, “Collaborative Approaches to Strengthening Security and Regional Stability,” Tinubu said insecurity transcends state boundaries and institutional mandates, making cooperation indispensable.

“No single agency, no single tier of government and no single community can secure this region acting alone. Insecurity does not respect state boundaries or agency mandates,” he said.

“Criminals move freely across local government areas while our responses are too often slowed by rivalry, duplication and the withholding of information. That must end.”

The President said his administration had strengthened Nigeria’s security architecture by improving collaboration among the Armed Forces, Nigeria Police Force and intelligence agencies.

He said the Federal Government had also acquired new platforms and advanced capabilities for the military, improved the welfare of troops and taken steps to rebuild the country’s indigenous defence industry through the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act.

Tinubu commended security agencies for gains recorded against terrorists and other criminal groups, noting that terrorist commanders had been neutralised, thousands of fighters had surrendered, captives had been rescued and normalcy restored to several communities.

He also paid tribute to military personnel, police officers and other security operatives who had lost their lives in the defence of the country.

However, the President warned that security operations must be complemented by measures addressing the underlying causes of violence.

“Military action alone will not deliver lasting peace to the North Central. Force can suppress violence; it cannot resolve the grievances that produce it,” Tinubu said.

He identified competition over land and water, climate change, desertification, unresolved land-use disputes, weak local conflict-resolution mechanisms and the proliferation of illicit weapons as some of the factors fuelling insecurity.

Tinubu said the government’s strategy would continue to combine security operations with development interventions.

He cited efforts by the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development to facilitate the transition from open grazing to modern, settled livestock production as part of measures to protect farmlands, improve pastoral livelihoods and reduce farmer-herder conflicts.

The President also highlighted the Ministry of Defence’s Reclaiming the Ungoverned Space for Economic Benefits Programme, designed to deploy the experience of retired military personnel in securing and revitalising communities recovering from violence.

According to him, investments in irrigation, mechanised agriculture, rural roads and access to credit under the Renewed Hope Agenda are intended to transform the region’s vulnerabilities into economic opportunities.

Addressing traditional and religious leaders, Tinubu said their proximity to the grassroots placed them in a strategic position to detect emerging threats before they escalate.

“To our revered traditional rulers and religious leaders, you hold an authority that no uniform confers. You know your communities intimately,” he said.

“I ask you to be our first line of early warning and our most trusted voice of reconciliation.”

He urged them to reject inflammatory rhetoric, particularly statements capable of exploiting ethnic and religious differences.

Tinubu also challenged communities to take greater responsibility for their security by sharing information with security agencies and refusing to shield criminal elements.

“Security begins with you. I call on every citizen to share information with the security agencies, to refuse to shield criminality out of kinship or sentiment, and to resist those who would recruit our sons into violence for a handful of naira,” he said.

The President called for greater involvement of women and youths in peace-building, describing young people’s energy as one of the region’s greatest assets.

“To our women, who bear the heaviest burden of every conflict and yet remain the most effective peacebuilders in every community, your place is not at the margins of this conversation but at its centre.

“And to our young people, your energy is this region’s greatest asset. This administration is committed to expanding the opportunities that make a rifle a far less attractive prospect than a livelihood,” Tinubu said.

He also urged development partners and the private sector to regard the North-Central not merely as a region requiring assistance but as an investment destination with significant economic potential.

“Peace and investment reinforce one another. Every factory built, every farm expanded and every young person employed in this region is a contribution to its security,” he added.

Tinubu directed the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd.), to transmit the summit’s resolutions to him and report on the implementation of its recommendations.

He warned against producing another communiqué that would be “filed away and forgotten,” insisting that recommendations must have clearly assigned responsibilities, timelines and measurable outcomes.

“I expect this gathering to produce clear and practical recommendations, each with an identified owner, a defined timeline and a measurable outcome.

“We will be judged not by the quality of our deliberations here, but by whether a farmer in this region sleeps more soundly a year from now,” he said.

The President commended the Ministry of Defence and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, North Central, for organising the summit.

He said the engagement, the second in a series of regional security summits following the South-East Regional Security Summit held in Umuahia on July 30, 2026, reflected his administration’s determination to build Nigeria’s security architecture from the grassroots.

Tinubu also commended the Benue State Government and the people of the North-Central for their resilience in the face of security challenges.

He urged governors, ministers, Service Chiefs, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, women, youths and private sector representatives attending the summit to engage candidly and develop practical solutions to insecurity across the region.