By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
Again, the National Economic Council, NEC, at its 152nd meeting, declined to deliberate on the pending issue of State Police to curb insecurity across the country.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu’s backing for the establishment of State Police had attracted accolades for him from different segments of the country.
Over 34 state governors had also expressed their support for the clamour to establish state Police.
It was reliably reported that the matter was scheduled for discussion at the last NEC meeting, but was deferred.
Although there were expectations that it would be given its importance, it was not even included in the agenda, a source at the meeting said.
Following the increasing rate of insecurity across the country, President Tinubu recently stated that the creation of a decentralised police force in Nigeria is now “inevitable,” as the federal government intensifies efforts to combat the worsening insecurity.
Speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while receiving a delegation of prominent citizens from Katsina State led by Governor Dikko Radda, Tinubu directed security agencies to review their operations in the state following a surge in banditry.
The President announced plans to deploy advanced military hardware, surveillance drones, and additional forest guards at the meeting to strengthen security.
He said, “The security challenges that we are facing are surmountable. Yes, we have porous borders. We inherited weaknesses that could have been addressed earlier. It is a challenge that we must fix, and we are facing it.”
Tinubu added that he had ordered all security agencies to provide daily feedback from operations in Katsina. “I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create state police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, our people, our livelihood, our places of worship, and our recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us,” he said.
The call for state policing arose after the federal government, in February 2024, established a committee to explore the modalities for its creation.
The Minister of Information and Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while briefing State House correspondents, confirmed at the time that Tinubu and state governors had agreed on the framework.
On May 10, 2025, the governors of the 19 Northern States under the aegis of the Northern Governors’ Forum also endorsed the establishment of state police.
In their resolutions outlined in a communique issued at the end of their joint meeting held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna, the forum resolved to support the creation of state police, citing the need for decentralised security management to effectively address security challenges.
The governors called on the National Assembly to expedite action on enacting the legal framework for the establishment of state police.
“We reiterated our support for the creation of the State Police and called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the enactment of the legal framework for its take-off,” Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Gombe State, said.
The post Insecurity: Again, NEC shuns deliberation on state police appeared first on Vanguard News.
