State Police: Governors split as insecurity worsens nationwide

The push for state police gained fresh momentum at the weekend as rising insecurity across the country forced governors, lawmakers and stakeholders into a defining debate, with most states backing the proposal while others warned of abuse, repression and political misuse.

From the North to the South, the fault lines are clear: while many states are already laying structures for decentralised policing, critics insist Nigeria lacked the safeguards to prevent governors from turning such outfits into instruments of control.

While governors of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State, Abba Yusuf of Kano State and those of Zamfara, Taraba, Kebbi, Adamawa, Nasarawa and Kwara states argued that state police was the way to go and had started putting measures in place to actualise community policing, Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum and his Sokoto State counterpart, among others, said Nigeria was not matured enough for state police.

The development comes amid worsening insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and communal clashes that have stretched the centrally controlled Nigeria Police Force to its limits.

President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly stated his desire for state police to combat insecurity.

Recently, the new Inspector General Police, Olatunji Disu, set up a committee to lay out measures to actualise state police.