Tinubu Backs Creation Of State Police As Insecurity Spreads

President Bola Tinubu has declared that Nigeria will move ahead with the creation of state police as part of a broad plan to tackle worsening insecurity across the country.

Speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja during a meeting with a delegation of Katsina leaders led by Governor Dikko Radda, Tinubu admitted that the nation’s security system had weaknesses but stressed that reforms were already underway. He announced that advanced military hardware, drones, surveillance equipment, and additional forest guards will be deployed to Katsina, which has remained one of the epicentres of banditry and mass killings.

Tinubu said daily security updates from the state must now be reported directly to his desk, warning that the federal government would no longer allow criminal gangs to overrun communities. He added that the creation of state police is unavoidable, noting that local conditions demand security agencies that understand the terrain and culture of the people they serve.

The President accused some political actors of frustrating the proposal but insisted that the federal government will push ahead. According to him, the security challenges confronting the nation — from terrorism and farmer-herder clashes to banditry and piracy — can no longer be effectively handled by a centralised security system.

Earlier in June, Tinubu had also called for urgent constitutional reforms to overhaul Nigeria’s security framework. Represented by Defence Minister Mohammed Badaru at a legislative dialogue on security in Abuja, he argued that the centralised police structure created under the 1999 Constitution was outdated and unfit to address today’s complex threats.

He said the debate over state police had moved beyond theory, pointing out that daily experiences of insecurity — from farmers unable to access their fields to traders unsure of safe passage — made it clear that decentralised policing is now a necessity.

Tinubu urged lawmakers to amend the constitution to transfer policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, allowing states with the will and resources to establish their own forces. He explained that such a reform would make policing more accountable and community-based while keeping federal coordination intact.

He added that Nigeria must learn from international models where decentralised policing enhances local security without undermining national unity. According to him, the country must adapt to new realities or risk leaving its citizens unprotected in the face of rising insecurity.