Daniel Otera
The debate over the establishment of state police has reignited in Plateau State following Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s renewed call for decentralised policing to address the protracted communal violence in the region.
However, opposition from the Plateau State chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has raised concerns over the possible abuse of such a policy in Nigeria’s ethnically diverse Middle Belt.
Governor Mutfwang made the proposal during a two-day public hearing by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, held recently in Jos. He argued that state-controlled police forces offer a more effective response to the state’s unique security threats, which have persisted since 2021.
“We must restructure our security architecture if we truly want to protect our people,” the governor said. “Only state police, properly empowered and trained, can respond to the peculiar threats we face.”
His remarks come in the wake of persistent attacks and reprisals between farming communities and pastoralist groups. According to the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a project of the Council on Foreign Relations, at least 502 people were killed in Plateau State in 2023 alone due to violence involving non-state actors, including communal clashes and banditry.
A separate assessment by Amnesty International, published in May 2025, reported that no fewer than 2,630 individuals were killed in Plateau State between May 2023 and May 2025, largely as a result of coordinated attacks by armed groups. The combined figures suggest a cumulative death toll of over 3,100 fatalities in just 29 months, underscoring the urgency of reforming Nigeria’s centralised security structure.
Governor Mutfwang noted that federal security agencies often arrive too late to prevent attacks or minimise casualties in remote areas.
“Between 2022 and 2024, federal security forces often arrived after the damage was done,” he said. “Our people deserve a system that understands the terrain, culture, and local intelligence network.”
However, MACBAN’s Plateau State chapter, under the aegis of the Coalition of Fulani Registered Organisations, has publicly opposed the proposal. In a memorandum submitted to the Senate Committee, signed by Chairman Garba Abdullahi Muhammad and Secretary Adam Yakubu, the group described the idea of state police as a threat to minority groups, especially Fulani herders.
“We are convinced that the creation of state police will not solve the crisis,” the group stated. “It will rather create a new dimension of discrimination, intimidation, and misuse of power by local political elites.”
The association warned that granting states policing powers could lead to ethnic profiling and politically motivated arrests. Citing previous incidents where Fulani communities were allegedly targeted during communal conflicts, the group argued that strengthening the federal police structure is a more equitable and sustainable solution.
According to MACBAN, “We call on the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu to reject this dangerous proposition. We are deeply concerned that state-controlled police formations will be turned into weapons against ethnic minorities.”
Their position reflects a long-standing mistrust between Fulani pastoralists and some state governments in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Decades of unresolved land disputes, grazing route conflicts, and religious tensions have entrenched fears that local security agencies may act with ethnic bias if handed autonomous power.
In its Atrocity Alert No. 444, Amnesty International noted that “state security actors are sometimes perceived to take sides in local conflicts, particularly in areas with deep-rooted ethnic divisions.”
The organisation further reported that in Plateau and neighbouring Benue States, over 9,500 people have been killed between 2023 and 2025, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced due to recurring violence between herders and farmers.
The push for decentralised policing has also re-opened a constitutional debate about whether Nigeria’s federal structure can support a single, centralised police force that is both effective and trusted nationwide. Critics have argued that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is overstretched, underfunded, and too removed from local realities particularly in rural and conflict-prone regions.
As of 2024, Nigeria had an estimated ratio of 1 police officer to every 650–700 citizens, significantly below the United Nations recommended standard of 1:450.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, acknowledged this gap during a public briefing in Abuja, stating that “Nigeria needs no fewer than 190,000 additional officers to meet global standards and effectively police the population” (PM News, 31 August 2023). He also admitted that recruitment and training have failed to keep pace with the country’s population growth and rising insecurity.
Despite resistance from groups such as MACBAN, calls for the establishment of state police continue to gain momentum. In April 2025, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), through a joint communiqué, urged the federal government to allow states to pilot independent policing models tailored to their specific security needs.
Governors from Lagos, Ondo, Rivers, and Oyo States cited the success of regional security outfits like Amotekun as evidence that locally controlled police formations can improve response times, build community trust, and enhance intelligence gathering.