President Bola Tinubu has announced a significant boost to Nigeria’s security architecture, increasing police recruitment from 30,000 to 50,000 officers and formally backing the establishment of state police.
The President made the declaration on Wednesday while announcing a nationwide security emergency, authorising both the Nigeria Police Force and the Armed Forces to recruit additional personnel to confront escalating insecurity across the country.
Tinubu said the police would immediately recruit an extra 20,000 officers, while police authorities are now permitted to use NYSC camps as temporary training facilities to fast-track mobilisation.
The President ordered officers removed from VIP escort duties to undergo crash retraining before deployment to high-risk areas. He also authorised the DSS to deploy all trained forest guards and recruit more personnel to flush out bandits and terrorists hiding in forested regions.
“There will be no more hiding places for agents of evil,” Tinubu said, stressing that the government is putting more boots on the ground, especially where communities remain vulnerable.
Tinubu commended security agencies for the recent rescue of the 24 schoolgirls in Kebbi and 38 worshippers in Kwara, promising continued efforts to secure others still in captivity.
He urged the Armed Forces to uphold discipline, warning against compromise and assuring them of full government support.
In a significant policy shift, the President announced support for states seeking to establish their own police forces. He called on the National Assembly to review existing laws to make state policing possible.
Tinubu also advised states to avoid siting boarding schools in isolated areas without adequate security, and urged mosques and churches in vulnerable regions to request police protection.
The President highlighted the new Ministry of Livestock Development as the key to resolving clashes between farmers and herders. He urged herder associations to embrace ranching, end open grazing, and surrender illegal weapons.
Tinubu expressed sympathy for families who lost loved ones in recent attacks in Kebbi, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Yobe, and Kwara, including the death of Brigadier-General Musa Uba.
Tinubu’s renewed backing of state police aligns with ongoing legislative work. Earlier this year, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele confirmed that lawmakers are drafting frameworks to allow states to establish their own police forces, a move first pushed during the Eighth Senate but never passed.
