Nigeria, Dec. 1 -- The Northern States Governors' Forum (NSGF), in collaboration with the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, has warned that the region may lose its future to escalating terrorism and deepening poverty unless urgent constitutional changes-specifically the establishment of State Police-are implemented.

The leaders gave the warning on Monday at an emergency joint meeting held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna.

The high-level parley, which convened the 19 governors, the traditional rulers led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa'ad Abubakar, and security chiefs, was described as a definitive push to harmonise responses to the banditry and social decay bedevilling the region.

Addressing the forum, the Chairman of the NSGF ...