With Referendums on Governance 7 Months Away, Some Governors Scramble
By Ebere Inyama and Onibiyo Segun
(Enugu state, Nigeria) – In Enugu and Niger state governors are ramping up their security profiles to make a good showing in gubernatorial elections on March 6, 2027, according to media reports on Facebook. The governors of those states have just moved proactively to let traditional monarchs know they need to up their game.
The suspension of Enugu monarchs and Niger governor’s sacking of Fulani chieftains as traditional monarchs in his state illustrate proactive steps by state governors to remove traditional rulers who are failing to protect vulnerable communities from armed criminal militia.
On 16 July, 2026, the Enugu state government suspended three traditional rulers and four President Generals in Ezeagu county of Enugu State. The action followed what the Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr Charles Egumgbe, described as “serious acts of misconduct that undermined government security efforts”.
Traditional rulers have historically served as community representatives, conflict mediators and sources of local intelligence. But across conflict zones, they are increasingly becoming part of Nigeria’s security debate.
Faced with frequent attacks by armed Fulani militia and criminal groups, and with no police or military personnel attached to their offices, traditional rulers rely on local vigilantes for protection of their communities.
The Enugu Situation
“Communities in Ezeagu county have relied on the efforts of local vigilantes to confront armed Fulani herders who attack farmers and destroy farmlands”, said Eric Ogbodo, a resident of Imezi-Owa community in Ezeagu county to TruthNigeria.
“These vigilante outfits are recruited by the community leaders and are placed under the control of the traditional rulers,” he continued.
“The state government has yet to tell us the nature of the security breach that prompted the suspension of our Traditional rulers in Ezeagu,” he added.
Nigerian army vs Eastern Security Network (ESN)
In a report published in May, 2026, a Human Rights group, Intersociety, stated that on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, soldiers of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu under the command of Major General Oluremi Fadairo forced the Ezeagu local vigilantes to lead them into the Ajali River Forest Valley where the Eastern Security Network (ESN) camp is located.
On getting to the camp, according to the report, a gun battle ensued between the two parties after which 3 Army personnel were wounded, forcing them to retreat.
The report added that “the soldiers reinforced and returned to the scene at about 2:30 pm of the same day and instead of heading back to Ajali River Forest Valley which is located more than two kilometers away from communal residential areas, they invaded and burned 10 houses belonging to the residents of Imezi-Owa’s Akwuke-Umudim, Abonuzu, Eziama and Eziowa villages.”
According to TruthNigeria sources in Enugu, the local community guards known as “vigilantes, invited the members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to assist them in confronting armed Fulani militia. The ESN attacked the Fulani herders and drove many of them away from some parts of Ezeagu, but this action infuriated some top military officers. The Nigerian Army targets the ESN as an insurgency itself.
The governor of Enugu believed that the traditional rulers of some communities in Ezeagu failed to monitor and control the activities of the vigilantes, according to confidential sources. The governor apparently was angry that the vigilantes invited the ESN to attack the armed Fulani herders. Since the vigilantes were directly under the control of the Traditional Rulers, the governor suspended them for not doing enough to control the vigilantes
Niger State Reforms Trigger National Debate
A similar debate is unfolding in Niger State, where Governor Umar Bago’s administration has moved to reorganize traditional leadership structures amid concerns over violence by Fulani terrorist-bandits, communal clashes and farmland disputes among tribes in Niger state.
This move by the governor comes amid tensions over land ownership and allegations of land grabbing.
The two cases – suspension of Enugu monarchs and reorganization of Niger’s traditional leadership — raise the same question: Are states changing traditional leadership because local monarchs are failing to manage security in the local communities?
An American human-rights leader, Dede Laugesen, who watches Nigeria closely tells TruthNigeria that the actions taken in the two states do not suggest a campaign by the Federal Government to take over the authority of local monarchs.
“In Niger State, Governor Bago has boldly stripped Sarkin Fulani and Ardos of their autonomous titles to combat land grabbing, kidnapping links, and insecurity. In contrast, Enugu under Governor Mbah shows no such purge amid its own security challenges and recent APC defection. These are independent state actions—not a federal Tinubu initiative,” according to Dede Laugesen, President and CEO of Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), a U.S.-based nonprofit in a text to TruthNigeria.
Communities Fight Over Land, Safety and Leadership
The Enugu and Niger cases follow TruthNigeria’s investigations documenting attacks, displacement and armed groups moving into more communities across Nigeria.
Reports from Kaduna, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo have examined communities facing repeated attacks, abandoned farmlands and fears over who controls villages and farming areas.
TruthNigeria reporting has tracked violence involving Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorists (FEM), lethal attacks on communities in Benue by mercenaries hired by Fulani militia, Boko Haram, ISWAP and Ansaru-linked groups operating through forests and rural corridors.
Judd Saul, founder of Equipping The Persecuted, told Epoch Times TV that some armed Fulani-linked groups should not be viewed only as criminal gangs alone.
Saul said that attack patterns, survivor accounts and intelligence assessments across Nigeria document that Fulani militia attacks express an insurgency with a unique identity and with far-reaching implications for control of territory.
Analysts Separate Identity from Armed Groups
Analysts say security agencies should identify the groups, commanders and networks carrying out attacks.
Security agencies must examine the consequences of repeated Fulani attacks,” said John Onah, a counterterrorism analyst based in Abuja.
“Where communities are repeatedly attacked and residents cannot return to their farms or homes, authorities must investigate whether violence is creating permanent changes in territorial control,” Onah added.
In the same vein, Dr Friday Okoh, a public affairs analyst based in Zaria raised questions about the fate of communities that are facing attacks from the Fulani ethnic militia.
“Security is not only about stopping attacks. It is also about ensuring communities are not gradually pushed away from their ancestral lands,” said Okoh.
Communities accuse some leaders of failing to protect them. Governments accuse some local actors of obstructing security efforts.
In Ezeagu and Niger State, governors are taking vigorous steps to suppress banditry and terrorism in their regions of control and likely preparing to be held accountable for enforcing the law in the national elections scheduled for early 2027.
Ebere Inyama and Onibiyo Segun report for TruthNigeria.
