Primate Ayodele warns Tinubu: Don't rush state police or risk more problems
Primate Elijah Ayodele, leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, warned President Tinubu on Friday against rushing the establishment of state police in Nigeria. In a statement through his media aide Osho Oluwatosin, the prophet said hurried implementation could create more problems than solutions, particularly jurisdictional conflicts between state and national police forces.
Ayodele acknowledged state police is a good initiative that could help Nigeria's insecurity but emphasized several factors must be addressed first. "There will be a lot of issues between the state police and the regular police. It is not something to rush; it will not end crime or terrorism," he stated. The government must carefully establish proper frameworks before deployment.
The warning comes as the Tinubu administration considers state police to address Nigeria's security challenges. Critics argue rushed implementation without clear command structures, funding models, and coordination mechanisms could worsen fragmentation in security operations. Proponents say localized policing is overdue for tackling community-level crime.
With the National Assembly likely to debate constitutional amendments for state police, the question becomes: Should Tinubu prioritize speed to show action on insecurity, or take time to build a framework that prevents the very problems Ayodele warns about?