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By Lawrence Agbo
Former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has called for the establishment of state police in Nigeria, arguing that it would significantly strengthen the country’s security architecture and improve operational capacity.
Ejiofor made the remarks while speaking on the issue of state policing and security reforms, noting that Nigeria’s current centralised policing structure limits effective response to rising security challenges across the country.
According to him, the Nigeria Police Force is overly centralised, making it difficult to adequately address security threats at the local level where they often emerge.
“The Nigeria Police, for instance, is too centralised for effective control, and the state police will complement the efforts of the federal police by providing intelligence,” he said.
He explained that while intelligence is not the core problem facing Nigeria’s security system, the major challenge lies in the capacity to respond swiftly and effectively to threats.
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“We are not lacking intelligence, but what we are lacking actually is the capacity to deal with such a situation we have at hand,” he added.
Ejiofor acknowledged concerns raised by critics of state police, particularly fears that governors might abuse the system for political purposes.
He, however, insisted that such risks could be managed through clearly defined guidelines and institutional safeguards to regulate the establishment and operation of state-controlled policing structures.
“The misgivings people have about the state police is that it will be abused by the governors. There must be a yardstick and areas of establishment that check all this,” he said.
The former DSS director maintained that properly structured state police would enhance intelligence gathering, improve rapid response, and reduce pressure on federal security agencies.
His comments come amid renewed national debate over police reform, as Nigeria continues to grapple with banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, and other forms of violent crime across several regions.
