Tunji Disu says state police has come to stay

Nigeria’s newly sworn-in Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, has thrown his weight behind the establishment of state police, describing it as an opportunity for partnership rather than a threat to the existing force.

Speaking after his inauguration as the 23rd IGP in Abuja on Wednesday, Disu was direct. “State police has come to stay, and the police should be able to contribute their part in making it succeed. The police are not afraid — our jobs are not being taken. It is an issue of partnership,” he said.

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Disu also announced that he had inaugurated a committee earlier in the day to develop an operational framework for the establishment and coordination of state police structures across the country. The committee will be led by Olu Ogunsakin, a professor of police studies.

“We don’t want it to seem as if others are taking decisions and we, the most important people concerned, did not do anything,” Disu said, explaining the rationale for setting up the committee.

The move aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s repeated pledges to decentralise policing in Nigeria as part of a broader push to address the country’s security challenges. Tinubu recently asked both chambers of the National Assembly to amend the 1999 constitution to create the necessary legal framework, and lawmakers have since begun the amendment process.