The South-West Governors’ Forum has renewed its demand for the creation of state police to tackle rising insecurity across the region and the country.
The call came on Monday following a closed-door meeting at the Oyo State Governor’s Office in Ibadan, which lasted several hours.
The meeting was chaired by Lagos State Governor and Forum Chairman, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and attended by governors of Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, and Oyo states.
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke was represented by his deputy, Kola Adewusi.
Sanwo-Olu, while reading the communiqué at the end of the meeting, said the governors had taken stock of security challenges and outlined a coordinated regional response to growing threats, including kidnapping, banditry, illegal mining, and unregulated interstate migration.
The forum announced the establishment of a South-West Regional Security Fund, to be managed by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission and overseen by state security advisers.
The fund is expected to support joint operations, intelligence sharing, and rapid response initiatives across the six states.
The governors also approved the creation of a live digital intelligence-sharing platform to facilitate real-time exchange of threat alerts, incident reports, and inter-state security communication.
Addressing environmental and security risks linked to illegal mining, the forum called for stronger regulation, tougher enforcement, and tighter border monitoring in collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to prevent criminal infiltration.
They further urged the Federal Government to deploy Forest Guards to reclaim forest belts currently used as hideouts by criminal elements.
The renewed push for state police comes amid escalating attacks in northern and central Nigeria.
In recent weeks, over 300 schoolchildren were abducted in Niger State, 25 girls kidnapped in Kebbi State, and five police officers killed in Bauchi State.
Bandits also abducted 12 female farmers in Borno State.
The South-West governors warned that without stronger regional security frameworks, the wave of kidnappings, banditry, and rural attacks could worsen, and called for urgent federal support to complement state-level efforts.
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