Renewed Calls for State Police Following Insecurity in Northern Nigeria

Security experts and stakeholders have intensified their calls for the urgent establishment of state police as a solution to the persistent wave of killings and kidnappings across the country. Following recent attacks in Kaduna and the Northeast, advocates argue that the current centralized policing structure is "grossly overstretched" and unable to respond effectively to localized threats.

The Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) noted in a communiqué today that Nigeria’s police-to-citizen ratio remains far below the United Nations recommendation of 1:450. With approximately 371,800 personnel serving over 220 million people, the ratio sits at roughly 1:740. This gap has led to a heavy reliance on the military for internal security, which experts say has further exhausted the nation's armed forces.

The debate has moved to the National Assembly, where constitutional amendments are being sought to move policing from the "Exclusive" to the "Concurrent" list. While critics express concerns that state governors might weaponize local police for political gain, proponents argue that strong legal frameworks and independent oversight bodies can mitigate these risks while drastically improving intelligence gathering at the grassroots level

#UTVAfrica#