Stakeholders at a summit on state policing in Nigeria have endorsed the establishment of State Police, but demanded strong constitutional, legal and institutional safeguards to prevent political interference and abuse of police powers.
The stakeholders made the recommendation at a one-day summit organised by the Department of Political Science, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, on August 27, 2026.
The summit, held at the University Auditorium, was themed “State Policing in Nigeria: Prospects, Challenges and the Future of Internal Security.”
In a communiqué signed by Dr. Mike Omilusi, Chairman of the Communiqué Drafting Committee, and Prof. Ola Abegunde, Head of the Department of Political Science, participants said Nigeria’s increasingly complex security challenges require policing structures that are more responsive to local realities.
They identified kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, communal conflicts, farmer-herder clashes, cultism, organised crime, cybercrime and human trafficking among the security threats requiring effective and locally informed policing.
The stakeholders, drawn from academia, security agencies, policymaking institutions, civil society and other sectors, observed that Nigeria’s highly centralised policing system may be inadequate to address the diverse security challenges across the country.
However, they cautioned that State Police should not be viewed as a magic solution to Nigeria’s security problems.
According to them, without adequate constitutional provisions, professional standards, sustainable funding, institutional independence and effective oversight, State Police could become vulnerable to political manipulation, human-rights abuses, ethnic discrimination and impunity.
The summit recommended that State Police should complement rather than replace the Nigeria Police Force, with both formations operating under a coordinated and constitutionally regulated policing framework.
Participants also called for State Police to be professionally managed, politically neutral, adequately funded, merit-based in recruitment and promotion, operationally autonomous, transparent and accountable.
They highlighted local intelligence and community knowledge as major advantages of decentralised policing, noting that officers familiar with local languages, cultures, geography and community networks could respond more effectively to emerging security threats.
The stakeholders, however, expressed concern that state-controlled police formations could be used by political leaders to intimidate opponents, suppress dissent or harass opposition politicians, journalists, civil society groups and other citizens.
To address these concerns, they recommended the establishment of independent State Police Service Commissions to oversee recruitment, discipline and appointments to senior police positions.
They also called for clear limits on the powers of governors and other political office holders to interfere in investigations, arrests, prosecutions and other police operations.
The summit further warned against ethnic, religious and residential discrimination in recruitment and deployment, particularly where indigeneity could become the dominant criterion.
The stakeholders concluded that the debate on State Police should move beyond arguments for or against its creation, urging Nigeria to develop a professional, accountable, rights-based and properly coordinated policing system capable of addressing evolving security challenges while protecting citizens’ fundamental rights.
