The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, yesterday reiterated his support for ongoing debate on state policing, saying it would bring practical solutions to Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.
Disu spoke at the Force Headquarters, Abuja while playing host to the Commandant and participants of Course 34,National Defence College (NDC), who presented a research paper on state policing, police reforms, and command and coordination protocols.
The IGP said the recommendations on state police provided a useful foundation for future reforms, adding that comparative analysis of countries with decentralised police systems offers valuable lessons for Nigeria.
Disu reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to sustained reforms and closer collaboration with the college and other strategic institutions. He said this would strengthen policing, enhance internal security and support national development.
He described the research as timely, insightful and relevant to the country’s current security realities. He praised the officers for blending academic scholarship with practical policing experience.
The delegation was led by the Commandant of the College, Rear Admiral Abdullahi Ahmed. He said the study was undertaken by police officers on the course as part of efforts to contribute to national security policy and community policing.
Ahmed said the research was carried out independently by the officers. Faculty members only provided academic guidance and methodological support.
He said the participants relied on their professional experience, critical thinking and research to produce recommendations for strengthening Nigeria’s internal security architecture through 2035. He expressed optimism that the findings would improve the Nigeria Police Force’s operational effectiveness against emerging security threats.
Separately, a broad consensus for state police emerged at the First Daily Sixth Anniversary National Dialogue on Security in Abuja, where former Chiefs of Defence Staff (CDS), Generals Martin Luther Agwai (retd.) and Lucky Irabor (retd.); former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson; Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, joined other stakeholders in calling for state police, emergency funding for security agencies and far-reaching security reforms.
The dialogue, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, was themed ‘Declaration of State of Emergency on Security: Matching Words with Action’.
Delivering the keynote address, Irabor said the declared state of emergency on security must be backed by decisive action and not a mere statement of intent.
He urged the Federal Government to substantially increase funding for the armed forces and other security agencies, establish state police based on global best practices, and develop Nigeria’s military-industrial complex to reduce dependence on foreign defence capabilities.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) also advised the Federal Government to ensure ongoing reforms addressed governance, economic and social problems driving violence across the country in order for state police to have meaningful effect.
The rights groups made the call during a webinar titled ‘Insecurity and State Policing in Nigeria: The Way Forward,’ organised by the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), with the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) and Africana League also taking part.
Irabor also called on Nigerians to support security agencies through vigilance, accountability and active citizenship.
Dickson blamed the collapse of Nigeria’s internal security system for the military’s overstretch across the country, saying the armed forces had been drawn into responsibilities beyond their primary constitutional mandate of defending Nigeria’s territorial integrity.
‘The military’s primary responsibility is territorial integrity. Internal security was only meant to be a subsidiary mandate, but it has now become the main focus because the military is deployed everywhere,’ he said.
He argued that Nigeria’s security challenges could not be solved through military deployment alone, calling instead for comprehensive security reforms and stronger legislative measures.
‘It’s not just military, military, military. It’s better to fight the causes of criminality,’ he said, adding that Nigeria needed more robust national dialogue on security.
Agwai, co-chairman of the dialogue, said the country’s security challenges had evolved into complex internal threats requiring a whole-of-society response involving government, the media, communities and citizens, not just the military and security agencies.
Representing Diri, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Nimibofa Ayawei, renewed the governor’s call for constitutional reforms to give state governors greater authority over security. He noted that governors were held accountable by citizens despite lacking operational control over the police. He described the ongoing constitutional amendment process as an opportunity to establish state police and devolve security responsibilities to states.
Development lawyer, Frank Tietie, called for emergency funding for security institutions, saying extraordinary threats demanded extraordinary financial commitment, while backing legislative efforts to establish state police with strong accountability mechanisms.
Political analyst, Mojeed Dahiru, stressed that national unity, and respect for Nigeria’s multi-religious character, were critical to security.
First Daily Publisher, Dr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the dialogue was designed as a non-partisan platform to generate practical solutions to Nigeria’s security crisis, urging participants to embrace intelligence-led, technology-driven reforms against terrorism, kidnapping and banditry.
Participants agreed that reversing Nigeria’s security challenges would require stronger institutions, increased investment, constitutional reforms, better intelligence gathering and sustained collaboration between government, security agencies and citizens.
During the webinar, the CSOs argued that policing reforms would achieve little without addressing poverty, unemployment, corruption, weak institutions and political exclusion.
RULAAC’s Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said insecurity should not be viewed merely as a policing problem, adding that governance failures were the root causes of crime and violence. He said decentralising policing could improve the response to local security threats but would not resolve Nigeria’s security crisis without broader governance reforms.
‘Police can respond to crime, but they cannot eliminate the structural conditions that produce it. No restructuring of police institutions alone will solve Nigeria’s security crisis,’ Nwanguma said.
He warned that state police could become another tool for abuse without strong accountability measures, calling for national standards on recruitment, training and discipline, operational independence from partisan political influence, independent civilian oversight, transparent complaints mechanisms, sustainable funding, and legal safeguards against the use of state police for electoral intimidation or political repression.
The Executive Director, Africana League, Dr Glory Ukwenga, said any state policing framework that excludes young people would be incomplete, noting that youths make up over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population and were among the groups most affected by insecurity. She called for youth representation on state police service commissions, police-community relations committees and security advisory councils, alongside structured consultations with youth organisations during the reform process.
She also recommended youth-focused recruitment, civic education programmes and digital platforms to let young people report security concerns.
CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said discussions on state police should focus not only on decentralisation but on the type of policing Nigeria intends to build, arguing that policing should be community-oriented, rights-based and accountable to citizens rather than an instrument of political control. He said poor access to education, healthcare, water, electricity, roads and employment continues to fuel insecurity, stressing that these challenges must be addressed alongside security reforms.
He warned against rushing constitutional amendments, saying Nigeria should first address weaknesses in existing security agencies before creating new policing structures.
The speakers agreed that establishing additional police forces would not, on its own, resolve Nigeria’s security challenges. They urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to ensure that any state policing arrangement strengthens democratic governance, protects human rights and promotes accountability, instead of creating fresh opportunities for political interference and abuse.