Plateau gov seeks end to insecurity in North Central

Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has called for a regional security strategy to tackle the rising wave of insecurity across the North-Central geopolitical zone.
The governor made the call on Monday while speaking as a panellist at the 2026 North-Central Security Summit in Makurdi, Benue State, organised by the Ministry of Defence in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, North-Central.
According to a statement issued on Monday by the governor’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr Gyang Bere, the summit brought stakeholders together to “examine the security challenges confronting the region and explored collective measures for addressing them.”
Mutfwang stressed that the current security situation demands a united approach, saying, “the scale and pattern of insecurity in the North Central required states in the region to move beyond isolated responses and adopt a united and intelligence-driven approach.”
He challenged the common narrative that the violence is limited to farmer-herder clashes.
“The nature of attacks recorded in several communities suggested a more organised threat that must be treated with the seriousness it deserved,” he said.
The governor described the situation as “an invasion of communities and a threat to national sovereignty, particularly where vulnerable populations were deliberately targeted and displaced from their ancestral homes.”
Reflecting on Plateau, he noted that “many displaced persons remained unable to return to their communities because the security conditions necessary for safe and sustainable resettlement had yet to be fully established.”
Mutfwang urged leaders to act with urgency, stating, “Leaders must confront insecurity with honesty and a sense of urgency because of its effects on poverty, economic deprivation and development.”
He also called on security agencies to change tactics.
“Security agencies must move beyond reactionary responses and trace attackers to their sources and routes,” he said. Shun anti-party activities, Plateau commissioner tells APC members Benue tightens school rules, bans phones, extra lessons, bullying Soldiers arrest suspected kidnapper, rescue victim in Benue, Nasarawa states
The governor raised concerns over infiltration routes into Plateau, saying attackers were “exploiting porous borders and difficult-to-monitor corridors” through connections between the North-West, Taraba and Nasarawa states.
He therefore called for “strengthened intelligence gathering, inter-state cooperation and coordinated operations among security agencies to identify and disrupt the routes used by attackers.”
Mutfwang further emphasised that “security agencies should intensify efforts to dislodge criminal elements from their hideouts and prevent them from establishing permanent footholds in communities.”

He advocated “closer collaboration among North-Central states, military formations, the police and other security agencies, as well as neighbouring states and regions, to block the movement of armed groups across territorial boundaries.”
The governor maintained that insecurity “must be viewed as a collective threat to the existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation, rather than being treated simply as ordinary criminality or isolated communal disputes.”
In his remarks, the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), said the summit was “convened to provide an opportunity for government and security stakeholders to hear directly from people in the region about the realities of the threats confronting their communities.”
He added that the gathering was “also designed to build a common understanding and develop practical approaches towards addressing the security challenges facing the North Central.”
Musa noted that “security remained a collective responsibility” and commended the people of the region for “refusing to give up in the face of persistent challenges.”
He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to “strengthening security across the country and addressing the challenges that undermine peace, livelihoods and national development.”
Other dignitaries at the summit included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume; Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia; and Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule.
The governors of Kogi and Niger states were represented at the event.

James Abraham

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