The Ijaw Publishers’ Forum, IPF, calls on the governors of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta States to urgently reactivate and fully fund the BRACED Commission as a coordinated regional response to the rising wave of insecurity across Nigeria.
Key highlight:
- The Ijaw Publishers’ Forum (IPF) has urged South-South governors to urgently revive and fund the BRACED Commission to address growing insecurity in the region.
- The Forum warned that kidnapping, banditry, and other violent crimes are spreading across Nigeria and could further threaten South-South states.
- IPF stressed that criminal networks operate across state borders, making regional cooperation and intelligence sharing essential.
- The Forum expressed concern over security challenges in the Niger Delta, including kidnapping, cult violence, oil theft, and organized crime.
- IPF criticized the inactivity of the BRACED Commission despite its role in promoting regional security and development.
In a statement signed by the Ijaw Forum Publishers Forum President, Comrade Austin Ozobo, and his Secretary, Comrade Tare Magbei, show that kidnapping, banditry and violent criminality are no longer confined to their former flashpoints. Reuters recently reported that kidnapping-for-ransom attacks have spread southward, including school abductions in Oyo State, while Nigeria’s parliament has advanced state police reforms due to the deepening national security crisis.
According to them, “The South-South governors must treat these developments as a serious warning. No responsible regional leadership should wait until bandits, kidnappers, terrorists and criminal cartels become entrenched before acting”.
IPF notes with concern that Delta State and other parts of the South-South already face entry-point pressures from neighbouring states, while the Niger Delta continues to battle kidnapping, cult violence, oil theft and other organized crimes.
The Forum warns that criminal networks do not respect state boundaries. A threat that enters Edo today can move into Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa or Cross River tomorrow if there is no common security architecture backed by intelligence sharing, maritime surveillance and joint emergency response.
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It is therefore unacceptable that the BRACED Commission, created as a platform for regional integration, security cooperation and development among the South-South states, has remained largely inactive at a time the region needs it most.
IPF demands that the governors immediately convene a South-South Security and Development Summit to revive the BRACED Commission, establish a regional security coordination centre, strengthen intelligence gathering, and create a united response against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, sea piracy and economic sabotage.
The South-South remains Nigeria’s economic backbone. Its creeks, roads, schools, markets, oil facilities and communities must not be left exposed because of political indifference or delayed action.
The governors must act now. Delay will be dangerous. Silence will be costly. History will not forgive any leadership that saw the warning signs and failed to prepare.
