State Police: Will It End Nigeria's Insecurity Or Create New Problems?

By Humphrey Godson 

The security challenges in Nigeria has stirred up concerns amongst citizens. This is coming amid the Oyo kidnapping, banditry in the North-West and terrorist attack happening in other parts of the country. This is what has led the national assembly to take the move for each state to have a state police.

This move is expected to help provide possible solution to insecurity in the country. But the question is will State Police end Nigeria's insecurity or create new problems.

Some Nigerians have welcomed the idea of having State Police because they believe that governors and local authorities better understand their communities than security officers. It is also safe to say that the local police force, (State Police) would have better intelligence and faster response to threats before it goes out of hand.

Looking at the crisis currently happening in the country due to the insecurity, the Idea of State Police will be a move that Nigerians will embrace. This is also because of the complains from communities that security operatives arrive late when they call in an attack.

But come to think of it, if State Police is fully activated, they may be able to identify suspicious move faster, gather credible intel and pin down possible attack before reinforcement comes in.

However, the down side is that State Police could also be use as a political weapon in the hands of politicians, being that Nigeria has a history of those in power intimidating and harassing opponents and civilians. This fear is a critical aspect to consider.

These are the same politicians many Nigerians accused of not providing basic amenities for citizens such as electricity, road, water, healthcare and education which raises serious concerns of accountability.

Another angle to also look at as regards bringing in State Police is the funding aspect of it. With the country's economic situation, it is bad enough that some states struggle to pay workers their wages and pension, so how long will they be able to keep up the funding of the State Police without having to compromise the essence.

Understandably, the State Police can not solve all Nigeria's insecurity problem but their presence will help cover more ground and if federal security operatives can join forces with the State Police, it will go a long way in tackling insecurity 

But the fear is not whether the State Police can solve insecurity in Nigeria, rather placing a failsafe more like a safeguard method that can be put in place to checkmate and counter abuse of the system will have a great level of solidification than it creating problems that it's suppose to fix.

One of the best approach to make sure that the State Police fulfill it's potential will be if the state government make sure that a proper policing structure is put in place in a way that it protests citizens instead of being use a serving tool in the hands of politicians.

Because at the end of the day, if the State Police is not well structured for the protection of citizens, it will only be a matter of time before it becomes the very thing it was built to fight against.

And so the question is not whether or not the State Police should be created but whether it will fulfill the reason it was created and that is fighting crime while protecting democracy, human right and the law of the land.

Meanwhile, it's being 31 days since the 39 children and 7 teachers were kidnapped. The kidnapp occured in Oyo state on May 15, 2026 and till date, they are still in captivity and are yet to be released. This is what prompted the  idea behind State Police.

This is "Let's Talk Nigeria" with HGS Media Plus. Do you support state police? Will it improve security or create new problems? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.