State police: Ex-LG chairmen demand 20% of defence budget for councils

n n

Former local government council chairmen in Edo State have called on the Federal Government to allocate 20 per cent of Nigeria’s defence budget directly to local governments, arguing that grassroots communities should play a central role in tackling the country’s worsening insecurity.

n

The demand was contained in the LG Charter on Insecurity 2026: A Demand for Direct Grassroots Action, adopted after a strategic meeting of the Edo State Group of Local Government Council Chairmen (2018–2021) in Benin City made available to our correspondent on Friday.

n

In a communiqué signed by the Chairman of the Communiqué Drafting Committee and former Chairman of Esan North East Local Government Area, Austine Okoibhole, alongside former Chairman of Uhunmwode Local Government Council, Napoleon Agbama, and former Chairman of Etsako Central Local Government Council, John Akhigbe, the former council bosses argued that local governments should become the frontline of Nigeria’s security architecture.

n

They said the proposed allocation—estimated at about ₦600 billion based on the current defence budget—would finance community policing initiatives, youth employment schemes and technology-driven surveillance across the country’s 774 local government areas.

n

“Fund the frontline: Nigeria spends about ₦3 trillion on defence, yet about 60 per cent of the country’s territory remains unsafe. Allocate 20 per cent directly to local governments to fund the Security-for-Jobs Programme and Local Government Technology Grants. They know the terrain. They know the people. Fund them or keep failing,” the communiqué stated.

n

The group also called for constitutional amendments to establish state police with operational commands at the local government level, saying Nigeria’s centralised policing structure had proved inadequate in addressing banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes.

n

According to the communiqué, local government chairmen should be legally empowered to head Joint Security Committees comprising the military, police, Department of State Services, traditional rulers and vigilante groups to improve intelligence gathering and rapid response to emerging threats.

n

The former chairmen proposed that each local government receive a monthly security vote of ₦20 million tied to verified intelligence, while border councils should receive ₦1 billion special intervention grants and surveillance drones to strengthen border security.

n

To address youth unemployment, which they identified as one of the major drivers of insecurity, the group proposed a Security-for-Jobs Programme funded with ₦500 million annually for each local government.

n

They said the initiative would recruit hundreds of unemployed youths into community policing, agro-ranger services and infrastructure protection programmes while also rewarding councils that successfully return out-of-school children to classrooms.

n

The communiqué further recommended the establishment of mobile courts in local government areas to conclude kidnapping and banditry cases within 90 days, as well as stricter enforcement of existing criminal laws.

n

It also proposed that 30 per cent of assets recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from each local government area be reinvested in CCTV cameras, street lighting and other security infrastructure in affected communities.

n

The former council chairmen blamed rising insecurity on unemployment, corruption, porous borders, poor education, delayed justice, weak local government autonomy, exclusion of traditional rulers and vigilante groups from formal security operations, and the growing number of out-of-school children.

n

Declaring insecurity a national emergency, they warned that persistent attacks by kidnappers and bandits were forcing rural communities to abandon their homes and farmlands, with serious implications for food security and national stability.

n

They urged the Federal Government to adopt the LG Charter on Insecurity 2026 as national policy within 90 days, establish state police with local government commands, publish quarterly Local Government Security Scorecards and integrate local governments into the country’s security framework.

n

“Security cannot be imported from Abuja and state capitals. It must be built in our wards, villages and local governments. We demand immediate integration of local governments into Nigeria’s security architecture with money, law, technology and accountability,” the communiqué added.

n

The proposal comes amid growing nationwide calls for the decentralisation of policing as Nigeria continues to grapple with kidnapping, banditry, communal clashes and attacks on rural communities. While advocates argue that state police and stronger local security structures would improve intelligence gathering and response times, opponents have cautioned against the potential misuse of state-controlled police by political officeholders. The issue remains one of the major constitutional reform proposals before the National Assembly.

n n