April 27, (THEWILL) – Amid the ongoing genocidal killings across Nigeria, particularly in Benue, Borno and Plateau States Nigeria, the news report that the National Economic Council on Thursday postponed talks on state police came as not only a surprise but a sad reminder of how elected leaders make policy statements in a haste.
More than a year ago, President Bola Tinubu and state governors agreed to the need for state police as part of measures to check the increased insecurity in the country.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the emergency meeting summoned by the President on February 16, 2024, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “The Federal Government and state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police. Of course, this is still going to be further discussed, a lot of work still has to be done in that direction. But the Federal Government and state governments are agreeing to the necessity of having state police. This is a significant shift.”
How significant a shift that agreement has become can be viewed against the backdrop of the worsening insecurity in the country and the attendant shedding of innocent blood almost daily.
In fact, Governor Duoye Diri’s press statement after the meeting on Thursday, April 23, 2025 paints the sad reality of the situation.
Speaking to State House Correspondents after the National Economic Council’s 149th meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, the Bayelsa State governor, said, “State police was part of our agenda today, but unfortunately the presentations could not get to that point. So, I assure you that in our next meeting, that issue will be exhaustively discussed.”
We were not told when that meeting will take place. Recall that it was the same Governor Diri who a few months ago said action on the issue was delayed because some state governors were yet to deliver their reports on the state police.
Then in December, 2024, his Kaduna counterpart, Uba Sani affirmed that all the 36 states had done so. That December was the last time any discussion was had about the issue of state police. Ordinarily, NEC meetings ought to be held every last Thursday of the month. Indeed, one was held in February. But the issue of state police was not on its agenda.
It appears that this is a case of he who feels the pain knows where the shoe pinches, when a governor like Sani of Kaduna State that is at the epicentre of ongoing killings would continue to canvass state police in interviews and statements. “The possibility of the creation of state policing in Nigeria, for me would go a long way in addressing insecurity, particularly at the subnational level,” he said recently.
We know that fears have been expressed about possible misuse of the police by state governors. But that fear appears to pale in significance for the need to stop the ongoing killings across the country. The present danger demands drastic action and state police is one such way to arrest the obvious dilemma. Calling on the government to recruit more policemen to boost the disgracefully low number of 300,000 or less than that for the army in a country with a population of over 200 million, is a refrain that has been made for decades.
In any case, under what authority did President Tinubu expect Governor Caleb Mutfwang to act when he directed him to take action against insecurity in Plateau State last week? With a centralised military and state governors acting as chief security officers in name in a nation that is under policed, the situation of insecurity in the country can only get worse.
We urge the Federal Government to expedite action on state police with the necessary safeguards against abuse and misuse put in place.
According to the Constitution, “The primary purpose of government as stated in Section 14(2)(b) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) is to provide welfare and security to the citizens of Nigeria.” This provision has been observed in the breech for too long and Nigerians have paid the price with their lives for too long. Enough is Enough.
