Governors of states in the North Central Geopolitical zone of the country have agreed on joint security operations to address the security challenges facing the region. Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, said this during a security council meeting in Lafia, the state capital, yesterday.

The North Central Governors’ Forum Chairman said the decision was made at a recent meeting of governors from the area in Abuja.

According to him, the operations are aimed at ridding the region of terrorists and kidnappers. He explained that the measure became necessary following the recent mass killings in Plateau, Benue and parts of Kwara. Sule said:

“It was during our discussions that we came up with the ideas of some kind of joint effort where we are going to look at the Wamba and Bokkos areas because they remain flash points.”

The governor said other areas to be covered by the joint security operations include some areas bordering Nasarawa, Benue and Kogi states. He said: “These are three areas that we are going to work with our neighbours to ensure that we bring the situation to a halt.”

The North Central geopolitical zone, which consists of six states: Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau, along with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has seen some of the worst acts of violence in the country in recent time despite the best efforts of the military to curtail it.