State Police Must Begin with Local Intelligence – NIJ Governing Council Chairman, Osoba
...Says Centralised Policing Cannot Address Nigeria's Security Challenges
The Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) Governing Council, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, has said that the success of state police in Nigeria will depend largely on effective local intelligence gathering, insisting that centralised policing can no longer adequately address the country’s growing security challenges.
Aremo Osoba stressed that security is fundamentally local and must be driven by officers who understand the people, their language, and the terrain.
He made the remarks while speaking as a panellist at the Arise News Town Hall on State Police held in Abuja on Thursday.
“State police starts from local intelligence, knowing your people, knowing your terrain, speaking the language of the people. That is the beginning of a successful local policing system,” he said.
The former Ogun State governor noted that the idea of state or local policing was not new to Nigeria, recalling that Native Authority Police and Local Government Police existed before being abolished.
He explained that although the system was later criticised for abuses during the First Republic, its existence demonstrated that decentralised policing was compatible with Nigeria’s federal structure.
Citing the United Kingdom and the United States as examples, Osoba maintained that decentralised policing remains an effective model in many federal and devolved systems of government.
According to him, the London Metropolitan Police operates within London, while other jurisdictions maintain separate police formations, similar to county policing systems in the United States.
He argued that concerns over possible abuse of state police should not prevent Nigeria from embracing the model, noting that abuses of power have occurred at both federal and state levels.
“In anything we are doing, there are certain risks. But the first thing I want you all to bear in mind is that security is local, and it is at the grassroots,” he remarked.
Osoba emphasised that policing communities effectively requires officers who understand local languages, cultures, and geographical realities.
He questioned the effectiveness of deploying officers unfamiliar with the communities they are assigned to protect, arguing that such personnel would struggle to gather timely intelligence or identify suspicious activities.
Reflecting on earlier community policing structures, Osoba recalled that local community leaders played significant roles in maintaining order and assisting security agencies through grassroots intelligence gathering.
He asserted that restoring such community-based intelligence mechanisms would strengthen proactive policing and improve crime prevention.
The NIJ Governing Council chairman further said that state police should prioritise intelligence gathering rather than merely enforcing the law.
He argued that officers recruited from their communities would be better positioned to identify residents, monitor unusual movements, and provide credible information capable of preventing crimes before they occur.
Osoba also expressed satisfaction that there appears to be growing national consensus on the establishment of state police. He noted that state governors, the National Assembly, and other critical stakeholders have increasingly shown support for the proposal.
He maintained that excessive centralisation of policing is inconsistent with the principles of federalism and limits the country’s ability to respond effectively to local security threats.
“I have never seen anywhere in the world where everything is centralised. How can a police officer effectively police what is going on in our forests without local knowledge?” he asked.
Osoba further expressed concern over rising abductions, stressing that stronger local intelligence would significantly enhance efforts to combat such crimes.
He urged policymakers to establish a state policing framework rooted in community participation, local knowledge, and intelligence-led operations to improve national security.
