State police no longer an option; challenge is how to make it work

By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd), on Thursday declared that the debate over state police should now move beyond whether Nigeria needs it to how it can be made to work, saying the country’s priority is building a professional and trusted policing system that avoids the failings of the federal model.

His message was simple: the question is no longer whether state police should exist, but whether Nigeria can get the structure right.

For Irabor, the real test lies in building a force that responds quickly to security threats without sacrificing professionalism, accountability or public confidence.

Speaking at the ARISE News Town Hall on State Police in Abuja, Irabor responded to concerns earlier raised by former House of Representatives member Nnenna Ukeje, who warned that state police could become a modern version of the defunct Native Authority Police or evolve into private armies in official uniforms.

The moderator had asked what alternative remained if Nigeria rejected state police despite widespread agreement that the existing policing system is overstretched.

“The challenge before us is no longer whether state police should exist, but how to ensure that we create an effective, professional and trusted law enforcement institution,” Irabor said.

He said much of the public debate rests on a misconception, arguing that state police is less about recruiting local people than about where operational authority should reside. He noted that police formations already exist across the country, extending from states to local government areas and, in some cases, down to villages.

“The real difference between the existing federal police system and a state police structure is command and control. It is about determining where operational authority should reside so that responses are faster, more effective and better suited to local security challenges,” the CDS explained.

He said the concept of state police should not be reduced to recruiting people from local communities, pointing out that the Nigeria Police Force, like the Armed Forces, already recruits personnel from local government areas across the country.

But he cautioned against assuming that decentralisation alone would solve Nigeria’s policing problems. While dismissing concerns that state police would automatically create duplication, Irabor argued that a stronger security architecture depends on having more capable institutions.

“Unless we honestly address those underlying problems, we risk replicating the same weaknesses in any new state police structure,” Irabor warned.

He called for a thorough review of the federal police system, including its logistics, equipment, operational procedures, training and organisational structure, saying the lessons learnt should shape the design of any future state police arrangement.

Irabor said decentralised policing would also require strong institutional safeguards, including common training standards, uniform operational guidelines and dedicated training institutions to ensure officers across the country meet the same professional standards.

“We need proper training institutions, standardised training curricula, uniform operational guidelines and common equipment standards. Without those safeguards, each state could develop its own practices and standards, leading to inconsistency across the federation,” he added.

Recruitment, he said, must be transparent and carefully managed, with fair representation from every local government area while ensuring that criminal elements do not infiltrate the ranks.

According to him, “We must ask: who are we recruiting? What standards will govern recruitment? How do we ensure that criminal elements do not infiltrate the ranks of the state police?”

Irabor said he believed Nigeria should have adopted state police many years ago but welcomed the fact that the country was now having a serious conversation about the issue.

The retired general said the success of any new policing system would ultimately be measured not by the number of officers on the streets but by the confidence officers inspire among the people they are meant to protect.

“We do not want a situation where officers are highly visible on the streets yet inspire little public confidence. There are times when you see someone in uniform and cannot help but question whether we are truly serious about law enforcement,” he added.

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