The Federal Government of Nigeria has been advised that the worsening insecurity in the country cannot be solved by establishing state police alone, with the emphasis that the country must also address the deeper governance, economic and social conditions fuelling violence and criminality.
Civil society organisations (CSOs), including the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Africana League and Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), made the submission during a virtual programme held on Tuesday titled, “Insecurity and State Policing in Nigeria: The Way Forward.”
The organisations called for a broader approach that combines policing and justice sector reforms with good governance, expanded economic opportunities, stronger accountability mechanisms and meaningful youth participation in any new policing architecture.
Speaking on “State Policing in Nigeria: The Imperative, the Risks and the Architecture for Accountability,” the Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, cautioned against treating insecurity primarily as a policing problem.
According to him, governance failures, poverty, unemployment, corruption, impunity, weak institutions, communal conflicts and political exclusion all contribute to insecurity.
“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,” he said.
Nwanguma acknowledged that decentralising policing could improve responsiveness but warned that it could also reproduce existing abuses if adequate safeguards were not put in place.
He called for national minimum standards for recruitment, training and discipline; operational independence from partisan political control; independent civilian oversight; transparent complaints mechanisms; sustainable and accountable funding; and protection against the use of police for electoral intimidation or the suppression of political opposition.
“Without these safeguards, decentralisation may simply transfer abuse from Abuja to the state capitals,” he warned.
Nwanguma also expressed concern about the process of considering the ongoing constitutional amendment for state police, stating that such a far-reaching reform requires transparency, rigorous debate and broad stakeholder consultation.
He urged the National Assembly to ensure that civil society, professional bodies, traditional institutions, women, youth groups, security experts, labour organisations and other relevant actors have meaningful opportunities to scrutinise and contribute to the proposal.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Africana League, Dr Glory Ukwenga, said any reform of Nigeria’s policing architecture must deliberately include young people, whom she described as both primary actors and victims of insecurity.
Ukwenga noted that young people constitute more than 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population, yet their participation was largely absent from discussions around the proposed state policing framework.
She called for youth representation on state police service commissions and police-community relations committees, as well as youth advisory councils on security. Additionally, she advocated structured consultation with youth organisations and youth participation in policing oversight and performance evaluation.
She also advocated youth-focused recruitment and civic security programmes, civic education on security governance, and digital platforms through which young people could report security concerns, participate in consultations and provide policy feedback.
Joining the conversation, CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, who spoke on “Building a People-Centred Security Framework for Nigeria,” said a decentralised policing model could make policing more responsive to communities but stressed that the fundamental question must be what kind of policing Nigeria wants to build.
“The fundamental issue is the philosophy behind the kind of policing we want to have in Nigeria. Do we want a police service that communities can relate with? Or do we just want to instil fear so that the elites and those in authority can exert violence on the people?” he asked.
Oluwafemi said policing must be rooted in respect for human rights and community participation.
“The police should not be instruments of fear and intimidation. Human rights should be protected. Another issue is who controls the police? Will it remain an instrument of those with political authority and means? Or will it become an integral part of communities, protecting people who have a democratic say in how the powers ceded to the police are exercised?” he said.
Oluwafemi called for public participation throughout the reform process. He also noted that the deterioration of public services and the lack of access to basic amenities such as education, water, electricity, good roads and gainful employment continue to weigh heavily on security across the country.
He advised against rushing through constitutional reforms simply because Nigeria is facing a severe security crisis, arguing that the country must learn from the weaknesses of existing institutions before creating new ones.
The speakers agreed that Nigeria’s security challenges require more than the creation of additional police forces, stressing that the ultimate goal should be to build security institutions that are professional, accountable, rights-respecting and trusted by citizens.
They urged the federal government and lawmakers to ensure that any state policing arrangement strengthens democracy and the rule of law, rather than creating new avenues for political interference, repression, and abuse.
(The Sun)