News
Insecurity: Govs back swift establishment of state police
—Say there’s need for state police to be constitutionally aligned with federalism, citizens’ rights
—State attorneys-general to review proposed constitutional amendments, frameworks for state police
The 36 state governors in the country have again thrown their weight behind the immediate establishment of state police, to be constitutionally sound and aligned with federalism and citizens’ rights.
The governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, also noted the collaborative efforts of other stakeholders, adding that consultation outcomes will strengthen the states’ collective position.
The governors have also reiterated their commitment to ongoing power sector reforms and to strengthen collaboration among stakeholders to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity for Nigerians.
It will be recalled that the House of Representatives on June 11, overwhelmingly voted in favour of a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police across the country, marking a major step in efforts to address Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.
Also, the bill scaled second reading in the Senate on the same day. In the House of Reps, the bill secured the support of 289 of the 290 lawmakers in attendance, while only one member voted against it during plenary.
Rising from its second meeting in Abuja from Wednesday to early yesterday, the governors in a communique by NGF Chairman and Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, disclosed that they received a presentation from the Forum’s Secretariat and a delegation of the Attorneys-General of the states on efforts to support establishing state police in Nigeria.
AbdulRazaq disclosed that they also received briefings on a range of federal and development partner proposals and resolved to deepen consultations and coordination between states and national institutions to secure better outcomes for citizens.
According to the governors, they noted a dedicated consultation with the state Attorneys-General to review the proposed constitutional amendments and frameworks.
The governors had in April this year, backed what they described as the proactive development of a state police framework by the secretariat, the umbrella body of the forum, in preparation for the proposed constitutional amendments.
The framework brings out key readiness requirements, including governance structures, financing models, human capital standards, digital systems and oversight mechanisms.
Governors’ resolutions
In a communique read after the meeting by Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, the Forum said: “We, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum at our meeting held today, deliberated on issues affecting the country.
“Following extensive deliberations, the Forum resolved as follows: The Forum received a presentation from the NGF Secretariat and a delegation of the Attorneys-General of the states on efforts to support establishing State Police in Nigeria. It noted a dedicated consultation with the Attorneys-General to review the proposed constitutional amendments and frameworks.
“Governors emphasised the need for the State Police to be constitutionally sound and aligned with federalism and citizens’ rights. The Forum noted the collaborative effort and added that the consultation outcomes would strengthen the states’ collective position.”
The governors have also reiterated their commitment to ongoing power sector reforms and to strengthening collaboration among stakeholders to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity for Nigerians.
According to the Communique, the Forum received a presentation on the National Solar Super-Grid (NSSG) Initiative, a proposal to expand electricity access through large-scale decentralised solar generation integrated with a national high-voltage transmission network.
Reiterate commitment to ongoing power sector reforms
The governors have also reiterated their commitment to ongoing power sector reforms and to strengthening collaboration among stakeholders to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity for Nigerians.
Against this backdrop, the governors noted the initiative’s potential to support industrialisation, improve energy security, strengthen state electricity markets, and accelerate economic growth.
On power, the communique read: “The Forum received a presentation on the National Solar
Super-Grid, NSSG, Initiative, a proposal to expand electricity access through large-scale, decentralised solar generation integrated with a national high-voltage transmission network.
The Forum noted the initiative’s potential to support industrialisation, improve energy security, strengthen state electricity markets, and accelerate economic growth.
“Governors reiterated their commitment to ongoing power sector reforms and to strengthen collaboration among stakeholders to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity for Nigerians.”
National Nutrition 774 Initiative
The governors have also resolved to support the National Nutrition 774 (N-774) Initiative as they reaffirmed their commitment to improving nutrition outcomes and reducing child malnutrition across Nigeria, just as they noted the ongoing work on the National Nutrition Bill and encouraged continued engagement with relevant stakeholders to strengthen the legal and policy framework for nutrition governance.
On nutrition and agriculture, the communique read: “The Forum received a presentation from the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning on progress under the National Nutrition 774 (N-774) Initiative.
The Forum reaffirmed the governors’ commitment to improving nutrition outcomes and reducing child malnutrition across Nigeria. The Forum also noted the ongoing work on the National Nutrition Bill and encouraged continued engagement with relevant stakeholders to strengthen the legal and policy framework for nutrition governance.
“The Forum received a briefing from the World Bank Country Office on the proposed Country Partnership Framework, CPF, for Nigeria covering the period FY2026–2032; the proposed Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth, AGROW, Programme, a results-based initiative designed to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen value chains, increase private sector participation, enhance food security, and Early Childhood Development, ECD.›
“The Forum supports ongoing collaboration with the Federal Government, the World Bank, and other stakeholders to ensure successful implementation and deliver benefits to participating states. Governors approved state-specific interventions and stressed the importance of better coordination across sectors like health, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, social protection, and family support.”
Details of proposed constitutional amendments for establishment of State Police
- Establishment of Federal Police and State Police (New Section 214)
- Two distinct police bodies are constitutionally established:
- (a) the Federal Police
- (b) State Police (one per State, established by State law)
The National Assembly must pass an Act prescribing: - Structure, organisation, administration, and powers of the Federal Police
- Framework and guidelines for the establishment of State Police
- State Police cannot commence operational policing until:
- Established by a Law of the State House of Assembly, and
- Certified as meeting national minimum standards (prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly)
- Transitional provision: Until a State Police becomes operational, the Federal Police continues all policing functions in that State. After commencement, the Federal Police handles federal policing functions and may provide assistance to the State Police.
- Responsibilities and Non-Interference (Section 214)
Federal Police is responsible for: - Maintenance of public security, public order, and security of persons/property throughout the Federation (to the extent provided by the Constitution or National Assembly Act).
- Similar functions within a State to the extent the State has legislative power under the Constitution.
Key safeguard against federal overreach (Section 214(6)):
The Federal Police shall not interfere with State Police operations or a State’s internal security affairs except in these limited cases: - To contain serious threats where there is a complete breakdown of law and order and the State Police is unable to respond.
When the Governor requests intervention - When a State Police is unable to function due to administrative, financial, or other problems.
Any such intervention requires prior approval by the National Police Council.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT): Fully under the jurisdiction and operational control of the Federal Police. - Leadership and Command (New Section 215)
- Federal Police: Headed by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).
- Appointed by the President on the advice of the National Police Council, from serving members of the Federal Police.
- Subject to confirmation by the National Assembly.
- The IGP has command over the entire Federal Police, including contingents in States.
- The President (or authorised Minister) may give lawful directions on public safety and order; the IGP must comply.
- State Police: Headed by a Commissioner of Police (CP).
- Appointed by the Governor on the advice of the National Police Council, from serving members of the State Police.
- Subject to confirmation by the State House of Assembly.
- The Governor (or authorised Commissioner) may give lawful directions on public safety and order; the CP must comply.
- If the CP believes a direction is unlawful or contradicts general policing standards, the matter can be referred to the National Police Council (whose decision is final).
- Removal of Top Officers (New Section 216)
- IGP: Removed only by the President on the recommendation of the National Police Council for specified grounds (grave misconduct, breach of Police Act/Regulations/Code of Conduct, conviction for fraud/dishonesty, bankruptcy, or mental incapacity). Requires two-thirds majority approval of the National Assembly.
- State Commissioner of Police: Removed only by the Governor on the recommendation of the National Police Council for similar grounds. Requires two-thirds majority approval of the State House of Assembly.
- Funding Support (New Section 216A)
The Federal Government shall provide grants or aids to State Police on the recommendation of the National Police Council, subject to approval by the National Assembly. - Oversight Bodies
National Police Council (restructured and renamed from the old Nigeria Police Council; new composition and expanded functions in Third Schedule): - Broad membership including: Chairman (Presidential appointee confirmed by NA), Attorney-General of the Federation, serving senior Federal Police officer, Attorneys-General of all States, retired Commissioners of Police (one per geo-political zone), representatives of NHRC, Public Complaints Commission, NLC, NBA, NUJ, and Traditional Rulers’ Councils.
- Key functions: Appointment and discipline of Federal Police officers (except IGP); recommending State top officers (CP, DCP, ACP) to Governors based on State PSC lists; supervising Federal and State Police activities (within constitutional limits); setting standards for training, intelligence, forensics; assisting State Police on request.
State Police Service Commission (new body established for each State in Third Schedule, Part II): - Composition: Chairman (appointed by Governor, confirmed by State HA), representatives of NHRC, Public Complaints Commission, NLC, NBA, NUJ, retired Assistant Commissioners of Police (one per senatorial district), and Traditional Rulers’ Council.
- Functions: Recommending three qualified candidates for CP/DCP/ACP to the National Police Council; appointment, discipline, and removal of State Police officers below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police; other functions as prescribed by Constitution or National Assembly Act.
- Legislative Framework (Second Schedule – Concurrent Legislative List)
- National Assembly may make laws on: establishment/organisation/administration/powers/duties of Federal Police; powers/duties of State Police; national minimum standards for both; policing standards, inspection, certification, complaints mechanisms, criminal information systems, inter-governmental cooperation, federal intervention, use of force, firearms, grants, and accountability.
- State Houses of Assembly may make laws for the establishment, organisation, administration, funding, and oversight of their State Police — but must comply with the Constitution and valid National Assembly Acts.
- States may set higher standards than national minimums but not lower.
- National Assembly laws cannot give federal authorities routine command, deployment, appointment, promotion, transfer, discipline, or control over State Police personnel (except for explicitly authorised federal intervention).
- Other related changes
- Updates to various constitutional provisions (e.g., Sections 34, 35, 39, 42, 84, 89, 129, 153) to replace references to “Nigeria Police Force” with appropriate “Police”, “Federal Police”, or “State Police” terminology.
- Exclusive Legislative List adjustments (e.g., light arms for policing purposes; fingerprints/biometrics/forensics shared with State Police; Federal Police listed separately).
•Consequential amend-ments to the Third Schedule for the new bodies and their compositions/powers.
(Vanguard)
A 29-year-old Nigerian man, James Abiwon, has died after a tree fell on his car during Storm Boelo in Mill Hill, north London.
According to Metro UK, Abiwon was driving along Dollis Road at about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday when the tree fell amid strong winds.
Emergency services, including police officers, firefighters, paramedics and an air ambulance, rushed to the scene. However, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Abiwon’s cousin, Tyrrell Okolo, described him as “a master of everything” and a devoted family man.
The deceased worked as a technology sales executive and held a degree from the University of Essex. He was also a semi-professional footballer who played for Aldershot, a musician whose YouTube channel had about 40,000 viewers, and a mentor to many people, according to his cousin.
Abiwon had been preparing to celebrate his 30th birthday with a padel tournament. Following his death, the event will go ahead in his memory, with proceeds expected to support his family.
His close friend, 29-year-old Kwame Affum, said they had played padel together just two days before the fatal incident.
“I’m trying hard to get my head around this,” Affum told Metro UK.
He said a friend had messaged Abiwon shortly before the accident about money owed to him for the court booking, but he did not respond, prompting concern.
Affum described Abiwon as a sports enthusiast, a talented footballer and an Arsenal supporter. He also said the deceased had graduated with a first-class degree and recently received an award at work.
“He was full of energy and talent,” Affum said.
“He was going to celebrate his 30th birthday in two weeks. It just seems impossible this has happened.”
A witness who laid flowers at the scene told Metro UK that she heard a helicopter and went outside to discover that a fallen tree had blocked the road, with a car trapped beneath it.
According to the witness, Abiwon’s girlfriend and best friend arrived while rescue operations were still underway. They were reportedly shaking as they waited, hoping he would be rescued alive.
The witness said his aunts and other relatives arrived later and were inconsolable over his death.
She described Abiwon as someone who was clearly loved by many, adding that the community had lost one of its own.
Traffic on Dollis Road was reportedly heavy at the time of the incident, as roadworks on a nearby street had diverted more vehicles onto the road.
A neighbour whose home overlooks the scene expressed concern about the circumstances, saying: “If it had been 10 minutes later, it could have been me.”
The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to Dollis Road at about 12:40 p.m. on Sunday following reports that a tree had fallen onto a moving car.
The police said they were working with the local authority and coroner to establish the circumstances surrounding Abiwon’s death.
Storm Boelo brought wind gusts of up to 84 mph across parts of the United Kingdom over the weekend.
A 60-year-old man was also killed by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, while other people were injured in incidents linked to the storm.
The family of a 46-year-old businessman, Kayode Akinbolusere, popularly known as Tolufe, has raised questions over his death after he reportedly recorded a video shortly before allegedly taking his own life at his office in Igba, Ondo State.
Akinbolusere, the owner of Esther Estate in Ondo State, was said to have died on Thursday after allegedly ingesting a poisonous substance.
In a video that circulated on social media before his death, the businessman spoke about his struggles and said he was leaving his properties to his wife, Esther, and their three children based in Canada.
He also stated that he was making the decision voluntarily and that nobody had pressured him.
Akinbolusere said, “I am doing this video on behalf of my family. I, Akinbolusere Kayode, is doing my will on my property. I am doing this on my own; nobody put pressure on me. I woke up and left for work, leaving my family at home.”
“The first and second machines I was using at work developed a fault. I was imagining what was happening. When I started my business, I started from the scratch and was very transparent about it.”
“My wife knew how I suffered. She didn’t trouble me. I will all my properties to my wife, Akinbolusere Esther, who hails from Ekiti, and my three children who are in Canada.”
“My wife stood by me when I had nothing and never for once wronged me. She was very supportive when I had nothing, especially when I was working as a barber. I was the one who destroyed everything with carelessness.”
However, the deceased’s uncle, Femi Akinbolusere, said the family suspected that the businessman might have been forced to make the video.
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Femi said the manner in which the deceased spoke about “surrendering” his property raised questions that should be investigated by security operatives.
He said, “We are grieving, please. You heard all he said laughing that he surrendered. Is that a gift to anybody? Is that a will? As if somebody was behind his seat pointing a gun at him. How can somebody say I am surrendering everything to my wife and three children?”
“If security operatives look at the voice very well, won’t they find that some people were behind making him say what he was saying? Is it not that they placed a gun behind him?”
The uncle further urged the police to examine the video and investigate the circumstances surrounding the businessman’s final moments.
“That clip is enough to give them [the police] the clue. That word ‘surrender’, doesn’t it mean that they forced him? They just killed him. Somebody was behind him telling him to say this and that and he was saying it. This is terrible.”
“All those things he was saying, did he say he shared his property? Who is telling you to surrender anything? Somebody forcing you to surrender. People should look at it. Security operatives should look at it.”
“They said he should be laughing and he was laughing. They should go and conduct an autopsy for the body. He said he offended his wife. Who is that wife? Even if he goes ahead to have another wife, does it warrant for him to be killed? That wife should be called to answer so many questions.”
However, the Ondo State Police Command said preliminary findings did not show signs of foul play.
In a statement issued on Friday, the state police spokesperson, Abayomi Jimoh, said the command had commenced an investigation into the suspected suicide.
According to the statement, Akinbolusere, a resident of Road 7, Housing Estate, Igba, was found dead in his office beside BOVAS Petrol Station, Igba Town, at about 3 p.m. on Thursday.
“Upon receipt of the information, police operatives attached to Bolorunduro Division visited the scene, where two empty bottles suspected to have contained Sniper insecticide were recovered from a nearby bush.”
“Preliminary findings also revealed that the deceased had allegedly recorded a video before his death, which has since circulated on social media, in which he reportedly lamented about his life struggles.”
“His remains were subsequently evacuated and deposited at the State Hospital Morgue for preservation and further examination. No foul play or visible marks of violence were observed on his body at the time of examination,” the statement said. (Punch)
The driver of a bus conveying 20 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) abducted in Imo state has identified five men standing trial over the incident as the suspects who attacked his vehicle and took the passengers hostage.
Testifying as the third prosecution witness, the driver told the state high court in Mgbidi, Imo state, on Friday that he recognised the men, especially the first defendant, who allegedly approached his bus with an AK-47 rifle.
He said the same defendant later marched the 20 prospective corps members into a nearby bush after the abduction.
Another prosecution witness, identified as Light Timothy, told the court that he saw two of the defendants carrying AK-47 rifles shortly after the abduction along the Owerri–Mgbidi–Onitsha expressway.
Timothy said he later identified the first and second defendants as members of the gang during an identification parade conducted at the state office of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Both witnesses testified at the resumed trial of five men accused of involvement in the abduction.
During cross-examination, defence counsel requested the driver’s identity card. Emeka Orafu, the presiding judge, confirmed that the photograph on the document bore a strong resemblance to the witness.
The driver’s identity card and the testimonies of both witnesses were subsequently admitted in evidence.
The defendants — Mohammed Ali, Usman Aliyu, Babangida Aliyu, Ibrahim Jiji and Aminu Haliru — were arraigned by the DSS over the abduction of 20 prospective corps members and a civilian.
The DSS had said three of the defendants — Aliyu, 25, also known as Chonge; Babangida, 21; and Ali, 23, also known as Smallie Pepper — were specifically charged with kidnapping the prospective corps members.
They are accused of conspiracy to commit hostage-taking under the Imo State Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law No. 4 of 2009.
The five men were also accused of unlawfully possessing three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, a pistol and 81 rounds of live ammunition.
The victims were abducted on October 1, when gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses conveying passengers from Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The attack occurred around 6:30 am near Umunoha in Mbaitoli LGA of Imo state.
Ten victims were rescued shortly after the incident, while the remaining abductees were freed on October 7 by a joint team of DSS, military and police operatives at Amakohia-Ubi forest in the state.
Five suspects were subsequently arrested in Rivers and Abia states between October 10 and 14, while three other suspects reportedly escaped during the operations with gunshot wounds.
At the end of Friday’s proceedings, the judge adjourned the trial to November 3, 4, 5 and 6, 2026, for continuation of the hearing.
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