The Think Yoruba First (TYF) Organisation Worldwide has urged President Bola Tinubu to disregard critics and proceed with the establishment of state police, citing its urgency and necessity in addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.

Speaking on Friday, the group’s Public Relations Officer, Ogbeni Oluwole Lewis, argued that the current police force is inadequate, with a ratio of 1:650 officers to citizens, and that state police would enable faster response times, enhanced intelligence gathering, and more effective security measures.

Lewis dismissed concerns about potential abuse of power by governors, advocating for a system with checks and balances instead.

He argued that state police would enable governors to make urgent decisions critical to their state’s security architecture, enhance intelligence gathering, and bridge the personnel gap in security.

Lewis emphasised that state policing is not just important but an urgent necessity for the survival of many communities, and that those opposing its establishment should explain what they have to hide.

The group called for a well-oiled system with checks and balances to prevent abuse of power, rather than dismissing the idea of state police outright.

He said: “Almost every inch of the country is faced with one security challenge or another, it becomes obvious there needs to be an overhaul of the current security architecture. That overhaul cannot be achieved without decentralising the present structure of policing. Security forces need to be closer to the people and ideally should be familiar with the entire locality he or she is posted to secure.

“Nigeria’s unmanned landmass is alarmingly too high to keep the people safe. This affects the response time of the security forces to challenges in those areas. Yorubaland itself has forests overrun by criminal foreign elements left to run riot at will. These characters have exploited the poor strength of the Police and the time it takes for the nearest officers to respond to reports of attacks by the local community to maim, kill and burn down our communities at different times. State Police will prevent and address this issue.

“With a decentralised State Police armed with officers familiar with the terrain, Nigeria can bridge the numbers gap and shorten the very poor response time of our security forces. It also arms the Governors with more control to make urgent decisions critical to his state’s security architecture. State Policing will also greatly enhance intelligence gathering.

“The argument that Governors would abuse their powers is not sufficient to expose our people to relentless attacks by criminal elements. What should be advocated for is a well-oiled system with checks and balances.

“State Policing is not just important to the survival of many communities; it is also an urgent necessity. Whoever is against its establishment needs to tell us what he or she has to hide.”