The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has reaffirmed his strong support for the creation of state police, arguing that decentralised policing is essential to tackling Nigeria’s escalating security challenges.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Adams endorsed the renewed demand by the Southern Governors’ Forum for state-controlled police forces. He praised South-West governors for “taking the lead” on the issue and stressed that anyone who genuinely cares about Nigeria’s future should support the initiative.
“Anybody who loves this country will not disagree with state police, considering the situation we have,” he said.
Adams dismissed fears that state governors might weaponise state police against political opponents. According to him, such concerns should not overshadow the urgent need to protect lives and property.
“Let us first talk about the protection of life and property, which is the primary responsibility of any government. Partisan politics is secondary,” he said.
He argued that the effectiveness of any security system depends heavily on local knowledge. Officers unfamiliar with their host communities, he said, struggle to operate effectively.
Using Arigidi-Akoko in Ondo State as an example, Adams explained that residents know the forests, routes and families well enough to identify criminals and track suspicious movements.
“We know our forests. We know where intruders enter. We know individuals with criminal backgrounds. Community members can provide intelligence that outsiders cannot,” he noted.
Adams insisted that Nigeria’s three-tier system of government cannot function optimally with a single central policing structure. Effective security, he said, requires policing frameworks at the federal, state and local levels.
“There is no way you can run a country with three tiers of governance but only one structure of policing,” he said.
Calls for state police have grown louder amid worsening insecurity across the country. Governors, traditional rulers, civil society groups and security analysts argue that the centralised Nigeria Police Force is overstretched and unable to respond swiftly to local threats. Regional security outfits such as Amotekun have emerged as stopgap measures, fuelling demands for constitutional reforms.
President Bola Tinubu recently urged the National Assembly to review existing laws to allow states to establish their own police forces as part of a nationwide security overhaul. His position has amplified pressure on the Federal Government to adopt decentralised policing.
Adams’ comments add further momentum to the debate, reinforcing widespread calls for a security model anchored in community intelligence, faster response times and local accountability.
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