The Federal Ministry of Defence says it would establish a comprehensive framework to implement the resolutions gathered from the 2026 Southeast regional security summit held in Umuahia, Abia State.
The Special Assistant to the Minister of Defence, Rear Admiral Oluwale Bankole (Rtd.), disclosed this on Thursday in Umuahia while reading out the communique of South East security summit hosted by Abia State.
Rear Admiral Bankole stated that the 2026 Southeast Regional Security Summit was convened by the Federal Ministry of Defence in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (Southeast) aimed at developing practical solutions to the security challenges in the South East.
The summit acknowledged that the security situation in the Southeast has improved significantly but noted that the region still grapples with serious threats, including kidnapping, armed robbery, politically motivated violence, attacks on security personnel and public infrastructure.
The summit also reported that proliferation of illicit arms, drug abuse, misinformation, criminal activities and the violent enforcement of unlawful sit-at-home orders were some factors that fueled insecurity in the South East.
The communiqué, which further noted that insecurity transcends state boundaries, said that criminal elements often operate across neighbouring states, making isolated responses by individual states ineffective.
It emphasized that no single government, institution or security agency can successfully address the prevailing challenges without sustained regional cooperation, coordinated action and the active participation of all stakeholders.
A major recommendation of the summit was the establishment of a shared South East database to facilitate intelligence gathering, including the use of CCTVs and coordinated law enforcement.
Also, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who spoke at the event, called on the Nigerian media to give less prominence to negative news.
Insecurity: Nigerian Govt, South-East leaders to design new framework