Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, federal lawmakers and top security chiefs have stressed the need for practical, coordinated solutions to insecurity in the North-West.

They made the call during a Public Hearing of the North-West Zonal Security Summit held in Kaduna on Saturday.

The summit was convened by the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on National Security with the theme “Building Robust Regional Collaborations to Tackle Insecurity: Pathways for Securing the Future.”

The summit was attended by members of the Senate Committee on National Security, retired military and police chiefs, and traditional rulers as well as civil society organisations from across the zone.

Fresh waves of attacks, including mass school abductions, have heightened public concern in the northern part of the country in recent times.

Last week, armed men invaded the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga in Kebbi State, abducting 26 students and killing a vice-principal who attempted to resist.

Days later, over 300 students and staff were seized by bandits who stormed St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State.

About 50 of them later escaped, according to authorities.

In his address, Sani called for a new security architecture built on “military strength, community engagement, and long-term development.”

He proposed the creation of a North-West Theatre Command that would merge the Army’s 1st and 8th Divisions under a unified structure.

According to him, “this will accelerate intelligence sharing, enhance coordinated operations, and dismantle cross-state criminal networks more effectively.”

The governor also recommended expanding the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to cover Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic.

“This expansion will disrupt arms trafficking routes, deny criminals cross-border sanctuaries, and weaken the networks that sustain their operations,” he said.

However, he warned that military operations alone would not end the crisis.

“Community trust and participation are indispensable,” Sani added, proposing permanent security committees at state and local levels comprising traditional rulers, religious leaders, women, youth groups, civil society and security agencies.

These committees, he said, would function as early-warning systems and conflict-resolution platforms.

The governor renewed his call for state police, arguing that Nigeria’s centralised policing structure was overstretched.

“With fewer than 400,000 police officers nationwide, many rural communities are left without meaningful protection,” he said.

While speaking at the event, Badaru assured the people that President Bola Tinubu’s administration remained committed to ending insecurity.

“The President’s directive is to establish a strong yet adaptive national security architecture to eradicate these threats.

“We are committed to ensuring that such violations of the rights of our children and threats to our development goals do not occur again,” he added.

The minister noted that despite ongoing challenges, security operations had recorded progress in several states.

He said joint operations across Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi had reopened critical routes, improving movement on the Kaduna–Kachia, Kaduna–Birnin Gwari, and Jibia–Gurbin Baure corridors.

Abubakar added that markets in Kaura Namoda, Shinkafi, Batsari, Giwa and Kajuru had witnessed increased activity, while displaced communities had started returning.

“Likewise, farmers in many affected communities are back on their fields with better security support,” he said, noting that some schools previously shut due to insecurity had reopened before recent attacks.

He admitted, however, that “the North-West continues to face lingering threats from bandits, terror cells and organised criminal networks despite the relentless efforts of our troops.”

In a keynote paper, Prof. Muhammad Isa of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said current approaches to security had failed because they were fragmented and poorly coordinated.

According to him, “even where tactical gains occur, they fail to translate into sustainable peace because structural drivers of insecurity remain unaddressed.”

He argued for a regional collaboration framework capable of integrating security, governance and development responses across the North-West.

Earlier, Chairman, Organizing Committee of the Summit, Senator Babangida Hussaini, said the summit was designed to allow stakeholders “frankly discuss the increasing and alarming rates of insecurity in our zone and the nation at large.”

He announced that a National Security Summit would hold in Abuja on December 1, where the views gathered from across the country would be harmonised.

“This is a testament that Mr President is not leaving any stone unturned in the search for actionable solutions to this national emergency,” Hussaini said.

He commended Governor Uba Sani for what he described as unprecedented support towards the success of the summit.