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Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has renewed his support for state policing, insisting that local security structures and community intelligence are critical to tackling insecurity in the state. He also said Benue has fully complied with the president’s local government autonomy reform.
Speaking during a Meet the Press briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team at the State House, Abuja, Alia said community-based security arrangements already in place in Benue were helping the state maintain relative peace and attract visitors, including medical tourists.
“My thoughts on state security are that it is a very good idea, and I am among the early governors who proposed state policing,” he said. “The federal police is working, but local people understand their terrain better. People from an area know strangers more easily, gather intelligence faster and are often more effective because they know what is expected of them.”
He said the state had introduced the Civil Protection Guard, Ainnamo, Operation Zenda and community vigilantes to support the fight against insecurity.
“For anyone to come into the state, security must remain a top priority, and we have worked hard to ensure that,” he said. “If the state were not safe, people would not continue to come there, including vulnerable people such as the sick.”
The governor said the state was also strengthening intelligence gathering and surveillance across frontline communities. “We monitor, track and respond proactively to emerging threats across the frontline areas of the state,” he added.
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On local government autonomy, Alia said his administration had complied fully with the policy, describing it as “sacrosanct”. He said local governments in the state now have the freedom to execute projects, especially road infrastructure projects, without interference.
“We have complied 100 per cent,” he said. “When I came in, only the legislature had full autonomy. I made it clear to local government leaders that autonomy is a law and they have it.”
According to him, the reform has made governance more efficient at the state level. “It has also made governance easier for me. I now have less headache because my role is mainly supervisory. All I do is monitor, cross-check and ask questions when necessary,” he said.
Alia said Benue’s local councils were already using their autonomy to tackle pressing needs. “As I speak, our local governments have declared a state of emergency on road infrastructure and are turning many areas in their jurisdictions into work sites,” he said.
He added that the arrangement has improved accountability and service delivery at the grassroots. “Once the right people are in those positions, the system runs more smoothly,” he said. “Benue is, in fact, among the most compliant states on autonomy.”
The governor also linked the state’s security and autonomy gains to broader development efforts in agriculture, IDP rehabilitation and industrial revival, saying the reforms and improved coordination were yielding visible results.
