President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the creation of state police has become unavoidable as part of measures to combat banditry and insecurity across the country.
The president made the declaration on Tuesday when he received a delegation of prominent Katsina indigenes led by Governor Dikko Radda at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stressing that his administration was committed to confronting insecurity with strategy and determination.
Nigeria has witnessed an upsurge in violent attacks, especially in the North-West where banditry has devastated rural communities. Katsina State, the home state of former President Muhammadu Buhari, remains one of the worst-hit by the crisis.
“The security challenges that we are facing are surmountable. Yes, we have porous borders. We inherited weaknesses that could have been addressed earlier. It is a challenge that we must fix, and we are facing it,” he said.
“I have today directed all the security agencies to energise further and look at the strategies. We have approved the additional acquisition of drones.”
Tinubu directed that he be provided with daily security briefings from Katsina and revealed that more advanced military equipment, drones and surveillance technology would be deployed to secure the state. He also announced plans to strengthen the capacity of newly recruited forest guards.
“I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create state police. We are looking at that holistically,” he added.
“We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, our people, our livelihood, our places of worship, and our recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us.”
He reminded the delegation that the federal government had already inaugurated a committee in February 2024 to examine the framework for state policing, a proposal that has gained wide acceptance across the country, though many states are yet to submit their reports.
“The time we lost our brother, President Buhari, is a loss for all of us. It is the will of God Almighty, but he has left in a good way,” he said.
“He didn’t hand over a defeated country, a battered political structure, but a legacy of success, and that is the most important thing.”
Governor Radda, former Governor Aminu Masari and the Wazirin of Katsina, Ibrahim Ida, all praised the president’s interventions. Ida however urged the federal government to upgrade the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport and improve security in southern Katsina.
