The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State, Kayode Ajulo, said establishing state police has become a necessity for Nigeria to address its security challenges.
His position aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s recent call on the National Assembly to amend existing laws to allow states that require state police to set up their own security structures as part of a broader response to rising nationwide insecurity.
Tinubu, who recently declared a national security emergency, urged federal lawmakers to begin reviewing the legal framework to empower interested states to operate state police forces.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Ajulo said the centralised policing model currently in place can no longer cope with the country’s varied and region-specific security challenges.
He highlighted the diversity of threats across the country—herder–farmer clashes in the North, cultism in the South, kidnappings in the Middle Belt, and oil theft in the Niger Delta, arguing that a central force cannot effectively tailor solutions for all regions.
“A centralised police force could not effectively tailor solutions to all, but the state police can,” he said.
Ajulo described President Tinubu’s push for a legislative review as timely and pragmatic, noting that it would allow the successful elements of the South-West Security Network, Amotekun, to be replicated nationwide.
According to him, Amotekun has significantly reduced criminal activities in the region, particularly kidnapping, demonstrating the effectiveness of decentralised policing rooted in local intelligence and oversight.
He pointed to the outfit’s “security firewall” operations in 2025, which disrupted criminal infiltration across South-West borders, attributing its success to cultural fluency, community intelligence, and accountability. He also added that kidnappings in Ondo and Osun dropped by nearly 70 per cent by mid-2025 despite Amotekun’s limited access to arms and federal-level resources.
Ajulo also commended South-West governors for establishing Amotekun and urged the National Assembly to legislate proactively on state policing, describing it as the most effective pathway to restoring national security.
He praised Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for approving the recruitment of 500 new Amotekun operatives and inaugurating an advanced Control Command Centre equipped with drones, surveillance technology, and real-time security reporting tools.
“These reforms have positioned Ondo as a leader in subnational security governance,” he said, adding that the expanded recruitment would strengthen intelligence gathering, forest patrols, border surveillance and rapid response capabilities.
“The governors in the South-West, with Amotekun, have shown that they can wield security as a shield, not a sword. Let the National Assembly act, or history will judge us not for our cautions, but for our cowardice. The people demand state police, not as an option, but as oxygen,” Ajulo concluded.
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