THE South West Governors’ Forum, comprising the governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo states, has agreed to establish a joint security surveillance to tackle terrorists under the banner of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province.
This was revealed after a meeting of all the six governors in the region. namely, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ademola Adeleke (Osun) and Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), on Thursday, held at the Governor’s Office, Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.
The move comes amid earlier reports of infiltration of the terrorists into some forests in the South West region.
Makinde had warned in January that bandits fleeing military operations in the North-West were seeking refuge in the Oyo.
At a 2025 annual inter-faith service for workers held at the Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, Makinde said, “During a security briefing this morning, I learnt that some bad elements from the North-West are relocating here due to military heat in their zones. But we will find and deal with them.”
The Department of State Services had also recently arrested 10 suspected members of ISWAP in Ilesa, Osun State.
After Thursday’s extensive deliberations, which began around 12pm and ended around 4pm, the Forum, in a communique read out to journalists by Governor Sanwo-Olu, said it acknowledged the threats of ISWAP activities in the region and condemned it in its totality.
During the meeting, Lagos Governor, Sanwo-Olu said the governors “passed a vote of confidence on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the economic stability and improvements recorded across the nation, particularly in the sustained supply and distribution of petroleum products and the stabilisation of the exchange rate”.
They blamed the rising food prices in Nigeria on “unscrupulous middlemen in the supply chain” but “agreed to create a State Food Inflation Joint Monitoring Team and establish Aggregation Centres and Food Hubs to combat food inflation”.
The South-West governors also lauded the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) introduced by President Tinubu’s government.
They said the initiative has “greatly benefited students in our region” and called on eligible students “to take advantage” of it and further their education.
The South-West governors equally thanked the Federal Government for creating the South West Development Commission (SWDC) with its headquarters in Cocoa House in Ibadan, Oyo State.
“I have full confidence in Odu’a Investment Company Limited’s management of our regional assets,” Sanwo-Olu said. “We urged the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to strengthen collaboration with our Commissioners for Agriculture to boost industrialisation and infrastructure development.