The Inspector-General of Police has come under intense and unprecedented nationwide criticism after proposing a 60-month timeline for the establishment of State Police a proposal that has united groups from every region of Nigeria in rare unanimous opposition, with organisations from the North, Middle Belt, South-West, South-East, South-South, and Niger Delta all describing the timeline as insincere, insensitive, and disconnected from the reality of a country where citizens are being killed, kidnapped, and terrorised daily.
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The Middle Belt Forum described it as “a disaster.” The Coalition of Northern Groups called it “a cruel insult.” Afenifere said it is “unrealistic and counterproductive.” South-East groups called it “over-prolonged and disconnected.” The Tiv nation’s umbrella body said it is “insincere and insensitive.” Northern Christians said there is “no sincerity” in it. The Ijaw Youth Council said the IGP is “afraid of losing power.” And the Rivers Peace Initiative declared it “unacceptable.”
The breadth and intensity of the rejection — spanning ethnic, religious, regional, and political lines represents one of the most unified expressions of public sentiment on any policy issue in recent Nigerian history, reflecting the depth of frustration with the country’s security situation and the centralised policing model that critics say has failed to protect citizens.
Shortly after his decoration, the IGP received a mandate from President Bola Tinubu to work out modalities for the establishment of State Police. He set up a committee to develop a framework for decentralising the police force.
However, the IGP’s subsequent pronouncement that the transition to State Police would require 60 months five full years before take-off has infuriated Nigerians and interest groups who have for decades clamoured for decentralised policing to bring security closer to communities.
The 60-month timeline means State Police would not become operational until approximately 2031 well beyond the current administration’s tenure, raising questions about whether the proposal is a genuine reform plan or a strategy to defer action indefinitely.
Dr. Bitrus Pogu, President of the Middle Belt Forum, was scathing in his assessment.
“To us, it’s a disaster. Let the president refer to individual states to give their recommendations,” Pogu stated.
He traced the history of decentralised policing in Nigeria, recalling that before the 1966 military coup, Native Authority Police existed and effectively served communities.
“Before the military took over governance, we saw how Native Authority Police was in existence and was serving the needs of our native authorities and communities. At that time, people were not even concerned about the existence of the Nigerian Police. Many people only knew the Native Authority Police for maintaining law and order,” Pogu recalled.
“After the first coup, the military merged everything and abolished the Native Authority Police just because we created states. We are only saying we need policing to be close to the people,” he stated.
Pogu accused the IGP of prioritising institutional self-interest over public safety.
“For the IGP to take that position, he’s just saying leave insurgency to continue the way it is, and let my office enjoy the benefits of the funds that are coming into the security network while Nigerians continue to bleed. It is unacceptable,” Pogu stated.
He disclosed that the MBF and southern socio-cultural groups have established a joint committee comprising retired IGPs, senior retired police officers, and retired military officers to develop alternative recommendations.
“We need County Police because we are pluralistic in terms of religion and diversity, especially in the Middle Belt where the majority of nationalities exist. Some of such people will not even be served at the state level, but at local government level,” Pogu stated.
Aliu Jaliu Charanchi, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Groups, described the 60-month timeline as “not just disappointing but a cruel insult to Nigerians.”
Charanchi disclosed that his coalition once opposed State Police due to fears of abuse but reversed its position when the centralised system “failed completely.”
“Now, you tell us to wait for five more years. That is not policy, it is negligence. People are dying today, not in some distant future,” Charanchi stated.
“The North is under siege. Bandits, terrorists, and criminal gangs are tearing communities apart. This is a national emergency, not a bureaucratic exercise. Any delay in security reform is reckless and inexcusable,” he declared.
He challenged the IGP’s credibility as a reform architect: “Asking the beneficiary of a broken system to midwife its reform is absurd. He is not sincere; he is protecting power, not people. His silence in the face of bloodshed says everything.”
Charanchi also criticised the National Assembly: “When leaders admit they know about the violence and still fail to act, it stops being incompetence — it becomes complicity. Enough is enough.”
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation Afenifere rejected the timeline outright, warning it could derail efforts to tackle worsening insecurity.
“Does it mean Nigeria should wait for another five years to tackle insecurity? No. If the police authorities think so, many Nigerians, including Afenifere and the Yoruba people, strongly disagree. We want urgent action,” Afenifere stated.
National Publicity Secretary Jare Ajayi argued that Nigeria’s centralised policing has failed and cited global examples.
“Countries like the United States, India, and Canada operate decentralised policing with proven effectiveness. That is the direction Nigeria must go,” Ajayi stated.
He insisted State Police should become operational before the end of 2026 and proposed an interim measure: “A presidential order can allow willing states to establish their own police immediately, while the National Assembly fast-tracks constitutional reforms.”
“Without security, the economy, politics, and social life become secondary. Only those who are alive, safe, and healthy can participate in national development. Today, lives have become relatively cheap given the rate of kidnappings, attacks on communities, and displacement of citizens. Are we to wait for five years to end this?” Ajayi asked.
The Igbo Heroes and Icons Foundation and the Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders both faulted the proposal.
IHIF National Coordinator Chinedu Nsofor said the timeline is “too long in the context of rising insecurity,” adding that “security interventions require faster response measures even if broader structural reforms are still being developed.”
The group questioned whether the extended timeline “reflects administrative caution or institutional reluctance to decentralise policing” and called for phased or pilot schemes to run while constitutional processes continue.
COSEYL President General Goodluck Ibem said Nigerians “need responsive, community-based policing structures now” and that “a five-year wait risks further loss of lives and property.”
Chief Iorbee Ihagh, President General of Mdzough U Tiv Worldwide and a retired Comptroller of Prisons, condemned the proposal as insincere and insensitive.
“State Police is the most important thing we need now. Why wait for 60 months? By that time he will be out of office. That is if he wins the next election — I don’t think he is qualified,” Ihagh stated.
He directly accused the IGP of serving President Tinubu’s interests rather than the nation’s.
“He is not thinking for the country, he is not working for the country; he is working for his own interests. People are dying economically; they are killing people every day; there is hunger everywhere. So I condemn that 60 months proposal. The creation of State Police should be with immediate effect,” Ihagh declared.
“Look at how a General was killed and it didn’t move him. If a soldier of that rank can be killed and nothing happens they will just say they are in control, that it won’t happen again but the next day it happens again,” Ihagh stated.
Elder Sunday Oibe, Chairman of the Northern Christian Elders Forum, said the IGP should not have been involved in designing the new police structure at all.
“It should have been left for the various states to fashion out how best to deal with the formation and operations, just like Hisbah, Amotekun, and other regional-based security outfits,” Oibe stated.
“I don’t see any sincerity in the 60 months proposed by the IGP. In the first place, in 60 months, both he and the current administration will be out of office. He knows that this is not workable hence, his proposal for the delay knowing full well that another administration will throw it out,” Oibe stated.
Rev. Emmanuel Olorunmagba of the National Rescue Movement added: “Can Nigeria afford to wait that long? From the North-West to the Middle Belt and beyond, citizens are living in fear. A five-year timeline signals a lack of urgency that is out of step with the scale of the crisis.”
He urged “decisive leadership, legislative action, and a commitment to fast-track reforms that will bring policing closer to the communities. The security of lives and property cannot be placed on a five-year waiting list.”
The Ijaw Youth Council was the most defiant in its response. President Jonathan Lokpobiri declared that Niger Delta communities would not wait for the IGP’s approval to establish community-level security.
“What does the IGP mean by his proposal? Which government even has a life span of five years in Nigeria? When the government does not want things that benefit the people to survive, this is how they go about their design,” Lokpobiri stated.
He accused the IGP of being afraid that State Police would reduce his powers: “Perhaps the IGP is afraid that the State Police will whittle down his powers over police formation across Nigeria.”
“We want our own natives as policemen, legally armed to deal with criminals invading our land. We won’t wait for the IGP’s approval. The issue of State Police was needed yesterday; we won’t wait again to start it,” Lokpobiri declared.
He cited specific security concerns: “This is imperative because of the activities of marauding criminals who are raping our women, while policemen posted to our territory have sympathy for them.”
The Rivers Peace Initiative declared the 60-month timeline unacceptable, citing specific security concerns in Ikwerre and Etche Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
Convener Obinna Ebogidi stated: “While long-term planning is understandable for a reform of this scale, the immediacy of the security challenges citizens face today calls for more urgent and practical measures. Nigeria needs a security architecture that is responsive and closer to the citizens.”
Across all the reactions, a consistent set of arguments emerges.
First, the 60-month timeline is seen as a deliberate delay strategy because both the IGP and the current administration will be out of office before implementation.
Second, the IGP is perceived as having a conflict of interest as head of the centralised system, he benefits from its continuation and cannot be expected to sincerely facilitate its decentralisation.
Third, the establishment of State Police is a constitutional and legislative matter — not an administrative one for the IGP to determine and should be driven by the National Assembly and state legislatures.
Fourth, Nigeria’s security crisis constitutes a national emergency that demands immediate action, not five-year bureaucratic timelines.
Fifth, interim measures including presidential orders, pilot schemes, and the formalisation of existing state security outfits could be implemented immediately while constitutional amendments proceed.
The unanimous rejection of the IGP’s timeline creates pressure on both the presidency and the National Assembly. President Tinubu, who gave the IGP the mandate to develop the framework, now faces the question of whether he will accept the 60-month timeline or overrule it in favour of accelerated implementation.
The National Assembly, which must pass the constitutional amendments required for State Police, faces growing demands for legislative action with critics warning that continued inaction amounts to complicity in the ongoing bloodshed.
The Middle Belt Forum’s disclosure that it has established a joint committee with southern socio-cultural groups comprising retired IGPs and senior security officers to develop alternative recommendations suggests that civil society is prepared to fill the vacuum if the government continues to delay.
For the millions of Nigerians living in communities where security forces are either absent, overwhelmed, or compromised, the debate over timelines is not abstract it is the difference between life and death, and five more years of waiting is a sentence many fear they will not survive.
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