Buhari meets northern governors, assures of security in the region

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the Northern Governors Forum of his commitment to end all forms of insecurity in the country.

The president gave the assurance when he met with governors from the region at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by the Chair of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, governors of Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu; Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai; Yobe, Mai Mala-Buni, Niger, Abubakar Bello; and Nasarawa, Abdullahi Sule.

Also in attendance was the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari.

In the meeting, the governors took turns to narrate their experiences, individual efforts at finding lasting solutions as well as expectations from the federal government.

The northern region is the most affected by insecurity in the country.

The various forms of insecurity range from insurgency in the North-east and banditry to kidnappings in the North-west and North-central states.

Mr Buhari assured that he would put an end to the menace and return the region and the country at large to its lost glories.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting attended by most of the northern governors, Mr Lalong said the president was optimistic about putting an end to all forms of insecurity in the country.

He said the meeting was basically about the insecurity in many parts of the region.

“Well, this meeting is in respect of some of the common features of insecurity that we have within our states. You’ll recall that many of the states have some of the insecurities that are very similar.

“So we put them together and see how to address some of those issues. And we felt that we must also meet Mr. President about it since it is about insecurity,” Mr Lalong said.

Asked about the key takeaways from the meeting, the governor said he would not disclose security issues to the public but said the meeting was fruitful.

“I think these are not to be disclosed because these are about security. But the take away I say is that the meeting with the President was very fruitful and we are also very committed, and we have seen a lot of commitment, so we are waiting for implementation.

“The assurance I will give you is that based on this meeting, we will also wait to see the commitment, and Mr President has given us that assurance,” he said.