KEY POINTS
- Afenifere warns that the delay in creating state police could trigger self-help and ethnic conflict.
- The group faults reactive federal security deployments after attacks as infeasible and ineffective.
- Ebiseni rejects the IG’s 60-month timeline and wants Amotekun upgraded to state police.
The pan-Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere has warned that the delay in establishing state police may push Nigerians toward self-help. Moreover, the group faulted the federal government’s reactive deployment of security forces after terror attacks, calling the approach infeasible and ineffective in protecting citizens.
Ebiseni warns of a dangerous vacuum
In a statement in Akure, Afenifere’s Secretary General, Chief Sola Ebiseni, said a national consensus already exists on the issue. “If there is any issue on which there is consensus currently in Nigeria, it is that the time for State Police is now,” he said. Furthermore, he warned that the vacuum from the “intolerable delay” could soon give way to ethnic wars, because communities naturally move to protect themselves when the state fails to act.
Consequently, the group urged political actors not to exploit insecurity for gain, arguing that Nigeria should treat the crisis as a national concern, much like the collective fight against COVID-19. According to Ebiseni, Nigeria has become a deliberate target of international terrorism with a territorial agenda, and such actors disregard borders and sovereignty. Therefore, he said, seeking cross-border collaboration to end terrorism does not amount to surrendering national sovereignty. He also noted that multiple theaters of conflict now overstretch the armed forces, which once earned praise for peacekeeping across West Africa.
Group picks holes in IG’s proposal
Afenifere recalled that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, backed state police on his appointment and sent a memorandum to the National Assembly for a constitutional amendment. Similarly, the group cited Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele’s recent support and the ongoing debate in the House of Representatives.
However, Ebiseni rejected parts of the IG’s proposal. Specifically, he said state police cannot wait for a 60-month gestation period, the federal police should not determine its structure and recruitment, and federal officers should not make up as much as 60 percent of any state force. In addition, he insisted that state police firepower “should be no less than possessed by the Federal Police or the terrorists they are recruited to tackle.”
On regional security, Ebiseni said the Amotekun network in Yoruba land only requires an immediate upgrade to state police, with commensurate firepower and continuous training. Finally, while praising the military’s efforts against insurgency, he cautioned personnel to shun any temptation to intervene in civil and democratic governance.
