The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to reject proposals for the creation of state police, warning that it would endanger democracy and empower governors to oppress minorities and opposition groups.
Gatekeepers News reports that the appeal comes in reaction to Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, who recently renewed calls for state police while speaking at a special court session to mark the start of the 2025/2026 legal year in Jos. Mutfwang argued that state police was urgently needed to tackle insecurity in Plateau and across the country.
However, the North-Central APC Forum, in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by its chairman, Saleh Zazzaga, strongly opposed the governor’s position, describing state police as a “dangerous proposal.”
“State police will only lead to anarchy and increased impunity across the country. It will exist to serve the interests of those in power, further subjugating minority groups who are already being oppressed in various states,” the Forum said.
The group alleged that many governors are already misusing state instruments to harass opposition members and minority groups, warning that such tendencies would worsen if governors were given direct control over police forces.
“If they can use the federal police, over which they do not have direct control, to deal with opponents, what they will do with state police will be far worse. Opposition will be criminalised, dissent suppressed, and democracy derailed,” the statement added.
The Forum also expressed fears that in North-Central states, where diverse religious and ethnic groups coexist, state police could be weaponised to enforce “state religion” and marginalise minority communities.
“We do not want state police in the North-Central, which is a secular region with people of different faiths and traditions. Some governors already show little regard for minorities; arming them with state police would only worsen exclusion and persecution,” the Forum cautioned.
The group concluded by urging Tinubu and the National Assembly to dismiss all pressures for state police, insisting that it would pose more risks than solutions to Nigeria’s security challenges.
