IJAW PUBLISHERS’ FORUM (IPF)
PRESS STATEMENT June 18, 2026 IPF TO SOUTH-SOUTH GOVERNORS: REVIVE BRACED COMMISSION NOW BEFORE INSECURITY OVERRUNS THE REGION The Ijaw Publishers’ Forum, IPF, calls on the governors of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta States to urgently reactivate and fully fund the BRACED Commission as a coordinated regional response to the rising wave of insecurity across Nigeria. Recent reports show that kidnapping, banditry and violent criminality are no longer confined to their former flashpoints. Reuters recently reported that kidnapping-for-ransom attacks have spread southward, including school abductions in Oyo State, while Nigeria’s parliament has advanced state police reforms due to the deepening national security crisis. The South-South governors must treat these developments as a serious warning. No responsible regional leadership should wait until bandits, kidnappers, terrorists and criminal cartels become entrenched before ac...