By EDISON Okereke
After most Nigerians have deliberated and contributed our views and expressed reservations over the ‘creation of state police,’ the governors for whom the creation will benefit immensely and the most, have laid an ambush, and have come out, for the first time since the debate erupted, and supported the creation.
Most Nigerians have expressed misgivings over the state police at this point in Nigeria’s doddering political movement.
We argued that the state police will be ambushed by the governors, like the states’ electoral bodies that turn out successfully only the party candidates of the government in their states,
be it for the Houses of Assembly or council elections across the country!
In theory, state police is ideal, but this will not necessarily work in or serve the country’s security needs because of the abuses the state police will be subjected to ultimately by the chief executives of the states when they eventually come on board.
I had also advocated the strengthening of the armed forces on ground in the country : the Army, the Navy, the Airforce, even the NSCDC as well as the existing federal police to be able to address the rising insecurity in the country.
But the Federal Government is bent on the new creation, which many of us believe will be at the beck and call of state governors!
Even then, there was no mention of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, VGN, which had secured a national recognition by the Federal Government.
The VGN was created with a view to strengthening a community-based security. It was established in 1970 and registered in 1999.
The body was designed to complement the efforts of the Nigeria Police, to assist in combating crimes, promoting community policing, and gathering intelligence across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
In a recent report of (The Nation newspaper lead story of March 27, 2026) titled : “State Police : IG proposes mode of operation, safeguards, outlook
.Senate gets framework from Ogunsakin panel,”
Professor Olu Ogunsakin submitted a 75-page proposal to Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, the report highlighted nebulous points as possible checks and balances fused in to address Nigerians’ concerns, among others :
- That the governors will be prevented from having absolute control over state police;
- That the State Assemblies will oversee state policing structures; and
- That there will be enactment of laws to criminalise compliance with illegal directives from the governors.
The question now is which body will effectively execute the above concerns when the state police eventually take off?
The governors have always had their ways in their states with the federal police, using the personnel to achieve whatever they want involving both the states and the nation without qualms.
Most of us know the relationship between the state legislators and governors in some states as to get the lawmakers to control the governors?
And when the state police are put into their control, will they spare both their real or imagined opposition or enemies? The answer is a capital NO.
Then, there is the second more critical question of financing.
Most states are struggling under the yoke of paying the new minimum wage, will they make any difference with such new responsibilities in salaries and logistics?
Some measures required to address the endemic security challenges include :
- Encouraging the present security agencies to work in synergy with one another, and with unity of purpose;
- Making them more proactive in terms of strategies ;
- Ferreting out the saboteurs among them, addressing their welfare packages,
- Recognising the tireless sacrifices of these men of valour by giving them good welfare packages and other incentives.
In a recent statement by the Acting Inspector General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu was credited with saying that the Federal Government will concede 60% of the national police to the states as a part of the take off plan.
One wonders if this quantum percentage is still coming from the existing federal police to the states then what the country needs are new strategies and not a shift of police personnel from the federal to the states.
In early March 2026, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi alleged that the Nigerian government and security agencies know the identities and locations of bandits/terrorists but choose not to take action. He claimed he often engages with them with security agents’ knowledge. The Kaduna-based cleric, made the claims during a recent interview. But the Federal Government glossed over the accusation.
The indictment by the cleric shows that the Federal Government has been treating the problem with kid’s gloves, can it then expect it to peter out?
Is it possible?
In order for the required seriousness to be injected into the efforts, the state governments should also encourage and properly equip local vigilance groups across the communities in their states with a view to monitoring their activities from time to time.
The argument adduced by the governors that the current federal system is inadequate to handle decentralized crimes like banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism should be taken with a pinch of salt on the strength of Gumi’s statement.
Even then, it is not every state government that is angling for state police. Some just want intermediate solutions like forest guards to specifically address security in remote areas.
Prognostically, the state police will divide the country along cultural lines.
But by harnessing the existing national security apparatuses already in place, instead of creating state police, and with the cooperation of the citizens, Nigeria will, undoubtedly, address the endemic security challenges beddevilling the country.
Most governors are still smarting from the accusations that they are behind the eruption of security brouhaha in their states in order to justify their security votes and suppress their opponents.
For instance, if ‘Ebube Agu’ in Imo State were state police, how would you rate their performance within the period they have operated. Ditto for such other formations in other states. That is a tip of the iceberg of what state police will look like in these states.
It is pertinent to add here that with good government policies devoid of election frauds and hounding of opposition, there will be minimal incidence of criminalities that will justify state police.
The security agencies should deploy to effective use the Federal Government’s newly acquired “tracking equipment” to the hotbeds of insecurity in parts of the country to shatter criminal networks aimed at encouraging proactive prevention.
In fact, with modern equipment in policing such as drones, there could even be a reduction in the deployment of police personnel and still achieve results. The will is required.
As many other people have said, the state police is not a panacea to challenges posed by insecurity in Nigeria.
If the efforts of the numerous security agencies now in place are properly harnessed, they will surely address insecurity in every nook and corner of the country.
The civilian population should also join hands in the efforts by willingly volunteering information.
The state police will be abused by political leaders and other influential individuals who will hijack them and heat up the polity, culminating in an illwind that will blow nobody any good !
