State Police Will Fix Local Security Gaps – Reps Aspirant

As the debate over the need for state police gained momentum, an All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant for the House of Representatives seat for Guyuk/Shelleng Federal Constituency in Adamawa State, Hon. Ahmad Ibrahim, has made a case for the decentralisation of Nigeria Police Force to tackle the growing insecurity in the country.

Speaking during an interview with select journalists , Ibrahim did not mince words in his assessment of the current policing structure, describing it as overstretched and lacking the capacity to effectively secure the country.

He said, “Nigeria ought to have adopted the State Police for long because the federal government lacks the capacity to form the Nigerian police as a body to police the entire country.

“Nigerian police is the biggest institution in Nigeria that has the highest personnel. And if you look at their budgets, it’s nothing to write home about.”

For Ibrahim, the call for state police is not just about structure, but about effectiveness at the grassroots. He argued that decentralised policing would replace loosely organised vigilante groups with a more professional and community-rooted system.

He further said, “Now, when states are given an opportunity to form their own state police, I think it’s a good idea. The state police is going to comprise the indigenes of the states. And it’s because of non-adoption of the state police, some of these states introduced what they call vigilante.”

Ibrahim, however, raised concerns about the limitations of such informal arrangements. “And these vigilante some of them are not educated.”

Despite widespread fears that state police could be misused by political actors, the House of Representatives aspirant advocated a pragmatic approach, urging Nigerians to allow the system evolve through practice.

He said, “When they created that state police, it’s going to help a lot. Many people argue that some of the state executives may likely use the state police. But in the contrary, there is no harm in trial. As they are growing, they will be able to do the right thing.”

He stated “So it’s a welcome idea. And if I’m opportune, if there is a bill, I should be one of the people that are going to endorse that bill.”

Beyond the national conversation on security, Ibrahim turned the spotlight on what he described as years of neglect in his constituency, painting a stark picture of communities cut off from basic governance.

“Now, for many times we’ve been having members representing my state, especially in the House of Representatives,” he said, before delivering a blunt verdict.

“There is no presence of government in all my constituencies, especially my constituency, Guyuk and Shelleng. We don’t have schools, we don’t have roads, we don’t have hospitals. In fact, there is no presence of government in that area. I fully believe that for the two local governments, we don’t even have a general hospital. We have to move to another area for medical treatment”.

His criticism extended to what he described as a pattern of political abandonment, where elected representatives lose touch with their constituents after securing office.

Ibrahim said, “And I discovered that most of the people that we voted for, the moment they were given a ticket, when they go to Abuja, that’s the end of it. They don’t remember the people again.”

Across rural communities, he said, the reality is one of isolation and darkness, with limited access to roads and electricity.

“Some of the villages, they were never connected to roads, neither light. So the only time they were connected with light is the two local governments, Shelleng town and Guyuk town. But any other one, they are not connected to the roads, neither national grids.

He said, “And I believe, if the mandate is given to me, those things that I mentioned, I’ll make sure that my people benefited from it. And I’ll make sure that the presence of the government will be there. I’ll not go to the House for my sake; I’ll not go to the House and sit down, I’m going there for my people.”

Central to his legislative priorities, he said, is education, which he described as critically lacking in the constituency despite its proximity to Borno State.

He said, “I think if I’m given the mandate, I’ll make sure that I push some bills that will help the community. One of the bills I’ll push is about education in my area.

“Because we don’t have federal schools in my area, we have a common boundary with Borno State. Share the local government. Then when you come to Adamawa, we have Guyuk and Shelleng which are from the same constituency. So within that constituency, there is no higher institution apart from secondary school. So my people have to cross to Borno State to go to higher institution, or they go to the capital Yola, which is about 120 kilometers away.”

He also argued that establishing a higher institution within the constituency would bridge this gap. “So I believe that if I’m given the opportunity, I’ll be able to push a bill for us to have a higher institution in my area.”