Six North-East governors have appealed to foreign governments to help stabilise the region by shifting their focus on humanitarian aids to finding a lasting solution to terrorism and banditry.

On Tuesday night, the governors also called for continued collaboration among security agencies in the fight against insurgency in the region.

The governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe, who met under the auspices of the North-East Governors Forum (NEGF), said the collaboration was necessary to sustain the current gains recorded in the war against insurgents.

In a communique signed by the forum’s chairman, Governor Babagana Zulum, at the end of its fifth meeting in Jalingo, the governors noted the general improvement in the security situation in the region.

The forum called on the diplomatic community, partners, and donor agencies supporting the subregion to activate transiting from humanitarian aid to stabilising the region and finding a permanent solution to the insurgency and banditry.

According to the communique, the transition will ensure sustainability and give the people the opportunity to help themselves out of poverty.

The forum also decried the negative impact of drug and narcotic substances in the region and the extent to which it aided the insurgency and other forms of criminality and called for support in curtailing drug trafficking and enforcing narcotic control within the region and across various borders.

While congratulating the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Maj.-Gen Farouk Yahaya, the NEGF condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari and the families of the late COAS, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 others killed in a helicopter crash.

Mr Zulum, Governors Darius Ishaku (Taraba), Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa) and Bala Muhammed (Bauchi), Inua Yahaya (Gombe), and Yobe Deputy Governor Idi Barde were at the meeting.