Dare Babalola
In a move to combat escalating insecurity across Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has declared a nationwide security emergency, authorising the immediate recruitment of additional personnel for the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Army.
The declaration, made in an official Statehouse statement signed by spokesperson Bayo Onanuga on Wednesday, directed the police to recruit 20,000 new officers, pushing total recruitment to 50,000, and empowered the army to bolster its ranks amid intensifying battles against bandits, terrorists, and other criminals.
In the statement, President Tinubu instructed that police officers currently assigned to VIP guard duties be redeployed after undergoing “crash training” for deployment to high-risk areas, while various National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps will double as police training depots to fast-track the expansion.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has also been cleared to deploy trained forest guards and recruit more personnel to flush out terrorists hiding in forests.
“No more hiding places for agents of evil,” the President warned, describing the situation as a “national emergency” requiring total mobilisation.
He lauded security agencies for recent successes, including the rescue of 24 schoolgirls in Kebbi and 38 worshippers in Kwara, and vowed efforts will persist to free remaining abductees, like students of a Niger State Catholic school.
Tinubu praised the bravery of soldiers and police, singling out fallen Brigadier-General Musa Uba, and demanded “no compromise, no collusion, no negligence” from security forces.
The administration pledged support for states with local security outfits and urged the National Assembly to expedite laws enabling state police where needed. Blaming insecurity partly on systemic issues like farmer-herder clashes, Tinubu pushed ranching over open grazing and asked herders to surrender illegal arms, leveraging the new Livestock Ministry.
Condoling families of victims in recent attacks in Kebbi, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Yobe, and Kwara States, Tinubu appealed for national unity saying, “Don’t succumb to fear. Report suspicious activities. We are in this fight together, and together we shall win.”
The President also advised schools, mosques, and churches in vulnerable zones to seek constant security, and asked states to avoid remote boarding schools lacking protection. He ended with a call for vigilance, sympathy for the bereaved, and prayers for Nigeria’s safety.
The declaration underscores growing government pressure to contain worsening insecurity – banditry, kidnappings, terror attacks – that has shaken several states, amid broader economic strains in the country.
