President Bola Tinubu has announced his administration is actively “creating a state police” to combat the nation’s security challenges.
The declaration came during a meeting at the State House in Abuja with a delegation of leaders from Katsina State, which has suffered severely from bandit activity.
President Tinubu, speaking directly to the delegation led by Governor Dikko Umaru Radda, outlined a multi-faceted strategy. He revealed he had directed security agencies to immediately review their strategies and had approved “the additional acquisition of drones” to enhance surveillance capabilities.
Furthermore, he mandated daily feedback on security operations in the region to ensure accountability and results.
The President framed the move towards state police as a necessary solution to localised threats, criticising the politicisation of the proposal.
He argued that certain states require security outfits that understand the local terrain and culture and can network effectively at the grassroots level. “The security challenges that we are facing are surmountable,” Tinubu stated, acknowledging inherited weaknesses like porous borders. “It is a challenge that we must fix, and we are facing it.”
Emphatically, he added, “I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create a state police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, people, livelihood, places of worship, and recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us.”
The delegation from Katsina expressed profound gratitude for the President’s attention to their plight. Governor Radda thanked Tinubu for his continual support, noting, “I never came to the President with a request that he rejected.”
He detailed the state’s needs, emphasising that while the federal government was aware of their problems, more support was crucial for security, youth empowerment, and infrastructure.
The visit also served as an opportunity to honour the late President Muhammadu Buhari, a revered native of Katsina. President Tinubu assured the leaders that Buhari would be immortalised to capture his legacy for posterity. “The time we lost our brother, President Buhari, is a loss for all of us,” Tinubu said. “He didn’t hand over a defeated country, a battered political structure, but a legacy of success.”
Elder statesman and the Waziri of Katsina, Senator Ibrahim Ida, commended Tinubu’s efforts on infrastructure and for honouring Buhari with a state burial. He specifically requested an upgrade for the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport and heightened security attention for Southern Katsina.
The meeting concluded with firm assurances of loyalty from the Katsina leaders and a renewed pledge from the President to restore security and stability to the region through a transformed policing model.
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