Former Chief of Defence Standards Evaluation, Major General John Seyina Malu (retd), has been appointed to the board of the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund.
Last year, the Northern Governors’ Forum resolved to establish a regional Security Trust Fund, funded by a monthly contribution of One Billion Naira from each state and local government, to confront the security crises in the North effectively.
Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (retd), and former Defence Minister and erstwhile Head of Service (HoS), Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, are appointed Chairman and Co-Chairmen of the board.
The board was inaugurated on Wednesday, July 8, at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna, marking a major step in the North’s regional response to worsening insecurity.
Packed with retired generals and ex-security chiefs drawn from the 19 northern states, the board is expected to provide strategic oversight to mobilise resources, intelligence sharing and coordinate operations against banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and cattle rustling.
Other members include ex-COAS Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya (Sokoto); ex-IGP Usman Alkali Baba (Yobe); ex-SGF Boss Mustapha (Adamawa); Sen Napoleon Bali rtd AVM (Plateau); ex-DIG Hafiz Inuwa (Jigawa); AVM Kabiru Aliyu (Taraba); Prof. Usman Tar (Borno); Maj. Gen. A.M. Dikko (Niger); AIG Sunday Babaji (Gombe); AVM Farouk Omeiza Umar (Kogi); Maj. Gen. Muhammad Sani (Kano); Maj. Gen. Bello Sarkin Yaki (Kebbi); Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Agbab (Kwara) and others.
According to the Chairman of the board, Yahaya, the Fund will complement, not replace, FG and security agencies, and must be “focused, responsive and credible,” judged by protection of lives, not meetings.
A former Chief Sapper, Gen Malu (retd) hails from Katsina-Ala Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State.
