Northern Christian Group Seeks Trust Fund Backing For Forest Guard, State Police

The Northern Christian Youth Professionals has urged the proposed Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund to establish dedicated intervention programmes to support the expansion of the Forest Guard and lay the foundation for the successful establishment of State Police across the region.

The Chairman of the group, Isaac Abrak, made the recommendation in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Thursday.

Abrak said the creation of the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund offered a rare opportunity for Northern leaders and elders to demonstrate their commitment to tackling the region’s persistent security challenges through practical and coordinated action.

He said the Trust Fund should prioritise recruitment, professional training and retraining, personnel welfare, operational vehicles, motorcycles for difficult terrain, communication equipment, surveillance technology, drones, intelligence systems, command-and-control centres and other logistics required for effective security operations.

According to him, the Fund should also promote joint planning, intelligence sharing, interoperability and regular training exercises among Northern states to strengthen collaboration with the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies.

He said, “The ultimate objective of the Trust Fund should be to ensure that every Northern state attains a minimum operational capacity for the Forest Guard and, when established, the State Police.

“A situation where some states possess strong security institutions while others remain under-resourced creates security gaps that criminal elements will inevitably exploit. Terrorists, bandits and kidnappers do not respect state boundaries; they simply relocate to areas with weaker security presence.”

Abrak stressed that the security of Northern Nigeria could only be as strong as that of its weakest state, warning that uneven security capacity would continue to undermine efforts to combat insecurity.

He added that the success of the Trust Fund would not depend solely on the resources it mobilised but on its ability to ensure that no Northern state was left behind in building effective security institutions.

The NCYP commended President Bola Tinubu for introducing the Forest Guard Initiative as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.

It also praised Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, for his advocacy for State Police and the state’s ongoing implementation of the Forest Guard Initiative, including the training of pioneer recruits.

The group further applauded the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, alongside other Northern governors, traditional rulers and members of the Board of Trustees, for providing leadership towards the establishment of the Trust Fund.

It urged the Board to make transparency, accountability, measurable outcomes and regional cooperation the guiding principles of the initiative.

Abrak said the Trust Fund should go beyond financing security interventions by helping to build an integrated regional security framework capable of protecting lives, supporting neighbouring states and promoting lasting peace and economic recovery across Northern Nigeria.

He added that the organisation was finalising a comprehensive policy memorandum containing detailed recommendations on how the Trust Fund could support the expansion of the Forest Guard, prepare for the establishment of State Police and strengthen regional security cooperation across the North.