Former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has called for the establishment of police formations at the state and local government levels, arguing that Nigeria’s centralised security system has struggled to effectively tackle rising insecurity.
Duke said Nigeria needs to decentralise policing and make community-based intelligence gathering a major part of the country’s security architecture.
Speaking on Nigeria’s security challenges, the former governor said the country had not substantially redesigned its security structure since the end of the Civil War in 1970.
According to him, state police and, where necessary, local government police could provide security agencies with better access to information about criminal activities and suspicious movements within communities.
“You have got to decentralise your policing. The idea of state police, even local government police, is right,” Duke said.
He, however, stressed that such a system must operate under clear guidelines and stronger judicial oversight to prevent abuse.
Duke also dismissed concerns that state police could be politically manipulated by governors, arguing that allegations of political influence have also been raised against the existing federal police structure.
“If you say state police will be abused, the national police will also be abused by the president. It is not only governors who can abuse the police. Set it up and put stringent guidelines in place,” he said.
The former governor placed particular emphasis on intelligence gathering, saying local security personnel would have a better understanding of their communities than officers deployed from distant locations.
He argued that security operations should focus more on preventing crimes through intelligence than simply responding after attacks have occurred.
Duke also linked insecurity to poverty, unemployment and limited economic opportunities, warning that military deployments alone would not provide a lasting solution.
His comments come amid continuing national discussions over the proposed establishment of state police and wider reforms to Nigeria’s security architecture.
For Cross River, the proposal is particularly significant as debates over community policing, intelligence gathering and the role of state and local authorities in maintaining security continue to attract public attention.
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