Governors have pledged readiness to partner the Federal Government in strengthening security measures across the country during the festive season.

They made the commitment during a meeting of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Wednesday night in Abuja.

At the meeting they received a briefing from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

Their resolution was contained in a communique signed by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who doubles as the NGF chairman. The communiqué was read by Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun.

The decision came into the open on a day that Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke put security operatives on standby following gunmen’s attack on boundary community in the State of the Living Spring.

The communiqué reads in part: “The forum received a communication from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), calling for heightened security preparedness across all states during the 2025 festive season due to increased population movements, large public gatherings, and heightened public safety risks.

“Governors are committed to strengthening inter-agency coordination, protecting critical infrastructure, and maintaining a visible security presence in identified hotspots to ensure a safe, incident-free festive period nationwide.

“The forum received notification from the World Bank confirming the effectiveness of the Additional Financing for the Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Programme.

“This enables continued disbursements to states to support livelihoods, food security, public works, and resilience-building interventions.

“Governors renewed their commitment to sustaining implementation momentum, ensuring timely reporting, and maximising fund utilisation to deliver measurable outcomes for vulnerable households.

“The forum noted the outcome of the third edition of the Primary Health Care (PHC) Leadership Challenge Awards, held on December 12, which recognised

13 states for outstanding progress in strengthening PHC systems.

“Yobe State emerged as the national overall winner, while Zamfara, Nasarawa, Abia, Rivers and Osun states topped their respective geopolitical zones; Kwara, Gombe, Kaduna, Anambra, Bayelsa, and Ogun States were the first runners-up.

“Governors acknowledged that the results reflect the value of sustained political leadership and peer-driven accountability, and committed to building on these gains to further strengthen primary health care delivery nationwide.”

Police, military on red alert in Osun

An attack on Ora-Igbomina, an Osun community at its boundary with Kwara State, prompted Governor Adeleke to put the police and military on the red alert.

It was learnt that gunmen invaded the Igbomina community in the Ifedayo Local Government Area of Osun State, to kidnap a retired customs officer, Prince Emmanuel Owolabi, and also attack residents and some travellers on Akisa Road, close to Ayedun town in Kwara State.

Adeleke’s spokesperson Olawale Rasheed, narrated how his boss vowed to forestall any further security breach and possible spillover from the neighbouring Kwara.

A statement by Rasheed said that Adeleke has issued new operational guidelines for the Amotekun security outfit, directing the corps leadership to ensure proper coordination with the police in their operations.

He assured that a military backed rescue and protection security operation has been underway for the past three days.

He explained that the Governor after an emergency security council meeting held on Wednesday evening, the Governor described the Ora incident as saddening and a major security breach even after almost all the water tight pre-emptive precautions already put in place in the last three months.

Reviewing the development with service commanders from the police, the army, the secret service and other paramilitary agencies, Adeleke expressed confidence that the ongoing military backed security operations across the boundary towns would prevent recurrence of the attacks and also secure the release of the kidnapped retired Customs officer.

He said: “From the moment of the unfortunate incident, our security forces have launched a rescue and protection operations. For the past three days, both the police, the army and the DSS have been combing the areas for rescue and also reviewing the security apparatus. A delicate operation is ongoing and we don’t want to jeopardise the integrity of the process.

“As part of our security plan, we will soon deploy the refurbished Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) for operations across the state. We are also procuring patrol vehicles to strengthen police and security operations in the state. Additionally, we are reviewing the joint security patrol programme. It will be unveiled at the right time to further protect our people,” the governor noted. (The Nation)