Gov Sule: Political rivalry fuelling insecurity in north

Nasarawa State Governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, has warned that political differences among leaders in the North Central are creating opportunities for militants and other criminal elements to exploit the region’s security challenges.

Sule, who spoke on Monday at the North Central Zonal Security Summit held at the Benue State Government House in Makurdi, called on political leaders across the region to separate politics from security matters and build trust and intelligence-sharing mechanisms to tackle insecurity.

Our correspondent reports that the summit was organised by the Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement.

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The Nasarawa governor specifically appealed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, to close ranks in the interest of peace and security in the region.

He maintained that the lingering disagreement between political leaders in the state could undermine collective efforts to address insecurity.

Sule said, “We must develop trust between Benue and Nasarawa state,” stressing that political differences had continued to create windows for militants to infiltrate communities and carry out criminal activities.

He recalled that although his predecessor, Tanko Al-Makura, and former Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom, had political differences towards the end of Al-Makura’s administration, he, however deliberately built a cordial relationship with Ortom after assuming office.

“I visited him and we held peace meetings at Yelewata. Following that relationship, the attacks reduced drastically from 2019 to 2023 until Governor Alia assumed office and it heightened again,” he said.

The Nasarawa governor said he would not tolerate any individual or group using his state as a base to attack Benue or any other North Central state.

“I will be stupid to accommodate militants that would attack Benue State or any north central state. We must build trust and share intelligence,” he said.

Sule also urged governments in the region to commit more resources to security agencies, particularly in the acquisition of modern technology and surveillance equipment.

“We now have more resources, we should deploy them to support security agencies to acquire technological gadgets as no amount of money is too much to secure the lives of the people,” he said.

Also speaking, Plateau State Governor, Caleb Muftwang, faulted the description of attacks on farmers in the region as mere farmer-herder clashes, insisting that some of the incidents amounted to deliberate invasion of farming communities.

Muftwang said every state had peculiar security challenges which required locally developed frameworks, adding that truthfulness and political will were necessary to confront banditry, kidnapping and attacks on farming communities.

“We must trace them to their hideouts and stop them. We are too reactionary and our borders are porous,” he said.

The governor advocated the establishment of structured community networks within localities to serve as the first line of defence against criminal elements.

Earlier, former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, proposed the establishment of a North Central Border Coordination Committee to strengthen security collaboration among states in the region.

Tallen said greater collaboration, sincerity and political will among leaders are required to stem the rising wave of insecurity across the north central states.