Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has urged security agencies and governments across the North-West to strengthen regional cooperation and coordinate operations aimed at dismantling bandit networks operating across state borders.
Lawal made the call on Wednesday while speaking at the opening of a three-day North-West Security Summit organised by the Nigeria Police Force at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital.
The summit, themed “Appraising the security challenges in the north-west region,” brought together Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu; representatives of North-West states; heads of security and intelligence agencies; traditional rulers; community leaders; and civil society organisations.
The governor said the region’s security challenges had evolved beyond isolated criminal incidents, with organised groups carrying out banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling across state boundaries.
“The north-west’s security crisis exceeds isolated crimes. Organised networks conduct banditry, kidnapping, and cattle rustling across borders, threatening livelihoods, food security, education, investment, and the social fabric,” he said.
According to Lawal, the cross-border nature of the criminal networks makes a unified regional strategy necessary, particularly through improved intelligence coordination and joint security operations.
He called for real-time intelligence sharing, coordinated operations between states, inter-state surveillance and stronger community policing mechanisms.
Lawal also urged security agencies to target the financial, logistical and supply structures that enable organised criminal groups to operate.
“This reality demands moving beyond fragmented responses because criminal networks ignore state boundaries,” he said.
“Our security must operate cohesively. Intelligence in Zamfara can prevent attacks elsewhere, and operations nearby can disrupt threats in Zamfara.
We must confront operational questions: How do we disrupt supply chains? How do we limit criminals’ mobility across forests, communities, and borders?
“How do we strengthen control over vulnerable corridors without harming legitimate commerce? And how do we identify and dismantle networks of informants and facilitators enabling crime?”
The governor further maintained that individuals or groups unwilling to embrace peace should be made to face the full weight of the law.
Speaking at the summit, Disu described the security of the North-West as a shared responsibility, stressing the region’s strategic importance to the country.
He said the police would sustain the deployment of personnel and operational resources while deepening partnerships with state governments and other security agencies.
“We are combining states to tackle the issue of insecurity. We have come together, we police together, we share intelligence together. We have made up our minds to take the fight to these criminals,” he said.
“But we also recognise that policing is most effective when it is supported by the people.”