Middle Belt Forum Rejects Northern Security Trust Fund

The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has rejected the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund (NNSTF), urging governors of Middle Belt states to withdraw from the initiative and invest security funds directly in protecting their respective states.

In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by its national spokesman, Luka Binniyat, the forum said. At the same time, it supports the establishment of state police and genuine efforts to tackle terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes. Still, it opposed the decision of northern governors to commit what it described as huge monthly contributions to the regional security fund.

The MBF’s reaction followed the inauguration of the Board of Trustees of the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund on 8 July 2026.

It argued that, rather than contribute to a regional fund, each Governor should deploy these resources to strengthen security in his state.

According to the forum, the Middle Belt has suffered the greatest human and material losses from years of insecurity in Northern Nigeria, with thousands of people killed, hundreds of communities destroyed, millions of hectares of farmland abandoned, and countless families displaced from their homes.

It claimed that throughout the years of violence, the Northern States Governors’ Forum had rarely spoken with one voice to condemn attacks on Middle Belt communities or paid solidarity visits to victims, despite what it described as some of the worst atrocities in the country’s history.

“The MBF believes that the idea of the NNSTF is a well-crafted design by the Sokoto caliphate and Borno Sultanate to raise funds to be deployed to promote their interest and those of the terrorists that the fund was supposed to fight”.

The forum vowed to challenge the legality of the proposed withdrawal of N1 billion monthly from participating states for the fund.

According to the forum, if states can contribute such amounts every month, the money should instead be invested in community-based security initiatives, including first lines of defence, improved local intelligence, communication equipment, surveillance technology, and emergency response systems, in collaboration with approved security agencies.

The forum added that the resources should also be used to rebuild communities destroyed by violence, rehabilitate schools and hospitals, compensate victims and permanently resettle internally displaced persons.

It also expressed concern that the funds could eventually be used to rehabilitate repentant terrorists and bandits while victims of violence continued to receive little or no support.

The MBF maintained that the Middle Belt did not create the terrorist groups and armed gangs operating across Northern Nigeria, alleging that those who understood the roots of the criminal networks were in the core North.

The forum, therefore, called on the governors of Middle Belt states to establish a regional security network to tackle what it described as persistent attacks on communities in the region.