The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has called for a coordinated, intelligence-led and community-driven approach to tackling insecurity across Nigeria’s North-West region.
Disu made the call on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, while delivering the opening address at the North-West Security Summit in Gusau, Zamfara State.
The three-day summit, hosted by the Zamfara State Government, brought together governors, traditional rulers, security chiefs, security experts, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to deliberate on banditry, kidnapping, arms proliferation, communal conflicts, farmer-herder tensions and other security threats confronting the region.
The IGP stressed that no single security agency, government or institution could effectively secure the North-West alone, urging stronger intelligence sharing, inter-state cooperation, coordinated operations, enhanced border security, community engagement and effective early-warning systems.
He also underscored the importance of traditional institutions and local communities in providing credible intelligence and supporting efforts to prevent crime.
Disu cautioned stakeholders against ethnic and religious profiling, stressing that criminality has no ethnicity and terrorism has no religion. He urged security agencies and other stakeholders to focus on identifying and dismantling criminal networks, including their sponsors, arms suppliers, informants and facilitators, irrespective of their ethnic, religious or social backgrounds.
The IGP reaffirmed the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to intelligence-led policing, technology-driven operations, rapid response, inter-agency collaboration and stronger partnerships with communities.
He challenged participants to ensure that the summit produces practical and measurable resolutions capable of strengthening security, protecting vulnerable communities and restoring public confidence across the North-West.
The summit is expected to provide a regional framework for addressing the complex security challenges confronting the seven North-West states through sustained collaboration among governments, security agencies, traditional institutions and communities.
