Former local government council chairmen in Edo State, on Friday, called for the immediate integration of local governments into Nigeria’s security architecture.

The call was contained in the “LG Charter on Insecurity 2026: A Demand for Direct Grassroots Action,” adopted after a strategic meeting of the Edo State Group of Local Government Council Chairmen (2018–2021) in Benin City.

In a communiqué was signed on behalf of the Edo State Group of Local Government Council Chairmen (2018–2021) by the Chairman of the Communiqué Drafting Committee and former Chairman of Esan North East Local Government Area, Hon. Austine Okoibhole, alongside former Chairman of Uhunmwode Local Government Council, Hon. Napoleon Agbama, and former Chairman of Etsako Central Local Government Council, Hon. John Akhigbe.

They insisting that the country’s worsening insecurity cannot be effectively addressed from Abuja and state capitals alone.

The former council chairmen said: “As former Chief Security Officers at the grassroots, we present 20 root causes of banditry, kidnapping, cultism, and armed robbery and 5 non-negotiable solutions. Nigeria cannot win this war from Abuja and state capitals alone. The time has come to fund, equip and empower Local Governments as first responders.

“Unemployment, corruption, porous borders, moral decline, social inequality, lack of local government autonomy, poor deployment of technology, delayed justice, governance failure, the out-of-school children crisis, poor education, parental neglect, collapsed value systems, and the exclusion of traditional rulers, hunters, and vigilante groups from the country’s security framework.

“Joblessness, 20M+ out-of-school children, education crisis. Solution: FG to fund a Security-for-Jobs Programme, ₦500M per LGA annually. At ₦50,000 monthly, this engages 833 youths per LGA in community policing, agro-rangers, and infrastructure brigades. Nationally: 645,000 youths off the streets across 774 LGAs. Pay LGAs ₦10,000 bounty for every child returned to school.

“Border breaches, sidelined LGAs, intelligence gaps. Solution: Legally empower LG Chairmen to chair Joint Security Committees with Army, Police, DSS, Traditional Rulers, and Vigilantes. Release ₦20M monthly security votes directly to LGAs with verified intel. Equip border LGAs with ₦1B special grants and surveillance drones.”

On justice delivery, the former council chairmen advocated the establishment of mobile courts at the local government level to handle kidnapping and banditry cases within a 90-day timeline, while calling on the judiciary to ensure the enforcement of penalties already prescribed under existing laws.

The group further proposed that 30 per cent of recoveries by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) originating from each local government should be channelled towards installing CCTV cameras and streetlights in affected communities.

They added, “Illegal mining, oil theft, war chests for bandits. Create LG Natural Resource Committees to co-manage all mining/oil sites. Mandate 5% of royalties paid directly into LG Security Trust Funds, starve criminals, fund protection.

“Problem: Dane guns vs AK-47s, moral collapse, cultism in schools. Solution: ₦200M LG Tech Grant per LGA for CCTV, trackers, and comms. ₦5B annual National Reorientation Fund for LG-led peace town halls. Redirect 50% of TETFund to LG technical schools — tie funding to WAEC passes and drops in cultism.

“LGAs are Nigeria’s first line of defence. They know the forests. They know the actors. They hear the whispers before the gunshots. No drone can replace a village head. No Abuja memo can replace a hunter who tracks for a living. A security strategy without LGAs is a strategy designed to fail.”

Declaring insecurity a national emergency, the former council chairmen warned that continued attacks by kidnappers, bandits and other criminal elements were leading to the displacement of rural communities, abandonment of farmlands and increasing threats to national stability.

They argued that extraordinary measures were required to confront what they described as an existential threat to Nigeria.

Among their key demands to the Federal Government are the adoption of the LG Charter on Insecurity 2026 as national policy within 90 days, constitutional amendments to establish state police with local government commands, quarterly publication of Local Government Security Scorecards, and the direct allocation of 20 per cent of Nigeria’s defence budget to local governments for grassroots security initiatives.

“Publish a quarterly LG Security Scorecard. Naira for Naira, crime for crime. Fund the frontline: Nigeria spends ₦3T on defence with 60% of territory unsafe. Allocate 20% = ₦600B directly to LGAs to cover the Security-for-Jobs Programme (₦387B) and LG Tech Grants (₦154.8B) They know the terrain. They know the people. Fund them or keep failing.

“We, the Edo State Group of Local Government Council Chairmen (2018–2021)resolve: Security cannot be imported from Abuja and State capitals, It must be built in our wards, villages, and LGAs. We demand immediate integration of Local Governments into Nigeria’s security architecture, with money, law, tech, and accountability.” the group declared.