The 19 northern governors under the Northern Governors’ Forum on Friday gathered in Kaduna, Kaduna State, to deliberate on insecurity and other issues.  

The governors discussed matters bordering on insecurity, agriculture, and oil exploration in the region including condoling Kaduna Governor Uba Sani, over the drone attack which led to the loss of lives in the Tudun Biri, in the Igabi Local Government Area of the state.

The military had accepted responsibility for the development.

The meeting, hosted by Sani, is the inaugural meeting of the governors since they assumed office in May 2023.

The Chairman of the Forum and Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, during his opening speech, condemned the accidental bombing of the people of Igabi LGA.

He stated that the regional governors would deploy more efforts to fight kidnapping, banditry, and communal clashes troubling the region.

He stated that the security challenges bedevilling the region had affected socio-economic wellbeing of people in the North.

Mr Yahaya promised a thorough investigation into the Tudun Biri incident, noting that the forum was working on that.

He noted that there were efforts towards ensuring that the victims were duly compensated.

He stated, “Let me begin by expressing condolence to the people of Tudun Biri who are victims of the unfortunate bombing incident by the Nigerian Army’s unintended operation.

“I want to assure you that the northern governors are working assiduously to ensure that the unfortunate incident is thoroughly investigated with the view to compensating the victims and taking corrective measures to prevent a future occurrence.

“As governors of northern states, while we are commending the Federal Government over the fight against insecurity, we believe that more needs to be done to bring an end to kidnapping, banditry, communal clashes and terrorism bedevilling our region.”

Also, Mr Sani called on the governors to establish a command and control centre to coordinate their joint efforts to tackle insecurity and terrorism in the region.

During the meeting, the 19 governors made a N180m donation to the victims of the drone attack and handed over a cheque to Mr Sani.