PRESIDENT TINUBU DECLARES NATIONAL SECURITY EMERGENCY, URGES NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO APPROVE STATE POLICE AS INSECURITY SURGES

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has intensified the federal government’s response to Nigeria’s worsening security situation with a decisive call to the National Assembly to commence a review of existing laws that would permit states to establish their own police forces. The call forms part of far-reaching directives issued on Wednesday as the President declared a nationwide security emergency.

In the official statement, President Tinubu urged lawmakers to urgently empower sub-national governments with constitutional backing to create state policing structures capable of responding swiftly to local security threats.

“I call on the National Assembly to begin reviewing our laws to allow states that require state police to establish them,” he said.

The President reaffirmed the federal government’s readiness to collaborate with states that already operate local security outfits, noting that his “administration will support state governments which have set up security outfits to safeguard their people from the terrorists bent on disrupting our national peace.”

Amid rising attacks on schools, worship centres, rural communities, and transport corridors, President Tinubu issued fresh directives to educational and religious institutions, especially those situated in isolated or high-risk locations. He warned that stakeholders must prioritise protection and enhanced vigilance.

“States should rethink establishing boarding schools in remote areas without adequate security. Mosques and churches should constantly seek police and other security protection when they gather for prayers, especially in vulnerable areas,” he stated.

The national security overhaul includes a major boost in manpower and field deployment. As part of the emergency measures, the President authorised the police to recruit 20,000 additional officers bringing new recruitment figures to 50,000 and approved the use of National Youth Service Corps camps across the country as temporary police training centres.

Addressing the nation, Tinubu stressed that mounting threats from terrorists, bandits, and other violent groups demand an all-of-society response.

“My fellow Nigerians, this is a national emergency, and we are responding by deploying more boots on the ground, especially in security-challenged areas. The times require all hands on deck. As Nigerians, we should all get involved in securing our nation,” he said.

To further tackle criminal hideouts, the President instructed the Department of State Services to deploy trained forest guards to flush out bandits and terrorists taking refuge within forest belts. He also directed the agency to immediately recruit more personnel specifically for forest operations, while emphasising that police officers withdrawn from VIP protection duties must undergo rapid retraining before being reassigned to critical security zones.

With the declaration of this national emergency, the Tinubu administration signals its determination to confront insecurity with an expanded, decentralised, and aggressively mobilised security architecture, one that places state-level policing, community vigilance, and rapid deployment at the heart of Nigeria’s evolving defence strategy.