A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Buba Galadima, has cautioned against the creation of state police, warning that the proposed security structure could be abused for political purposes and could as well threaten Nigeria’s unity.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday morning, Galadima argued that the push for state police is not primarily driven by the need to tackle insecurity.

Nobody ever conceived the idea of state police to sort out security. If the Nigerian Police and the Nigerian military cannot solve security situations in Nigeria, I wonder how the state police would be able to do that,” he said.

He alleged that both the President and state governors were seeking state police ahead of elections to use the outfit against political opponents.

All that we know is that the President and the governors are looking for state police before the elections so that they use them as political forces to attack the opposition, disrupt elections and kill democracy,” Galadima said.

Drawing on historical experience, the NDC chieftain recalled the era of the Native Authority Police in northern Nigeria, claiming it was used to suppress opposition politicians.

When elections approached, the Native Authority Police would gather opposition elements in their jurisdiction and lock them up on different allegations. That was how the system was abused,” he said.

Galadima further claimed that the misuse of the Native Authority Police contributed to the displacement of many people from parts of northern Nigeria.

“Most Hausa people you see across Africa and Nigeria were expelled by the Native Authority Police in states like Kano and Katsina. They had to run for their dear lives,” he alleged.

He also warned that state police could deepen ethnic and religious divisions if recruitment were dominated by a single group within a state.

“State police could be used to destroy the unity of this country. It will create more problems, more division and more suspicion than solutions,” he said.

The proposal for the establishment of state police has remained a subject of national debate, with supporters arguing it would strengthen community policing and improve security, while opponents have raised concerns about possible political abuse and human rights violations.