A prominent Nigerian policy group has urged the National Assembly to invoke the “doctrine of necessity” to fast-track the establishment of state-controlled police forces, expressing deep concern over legislative delays during a worsening national security crisis.
The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) issued a strong policy statement warning that the current centralized policing system is failing to secure rural communities.
The think tank’s chairman, Omoniyi Akinsiju, argued that the national parliament must use emergency legal precedents to bypass lengthy constitutional amendment procedures and pass the state police bill without further delay.
“The police force should be the foundation of the country’s internal security architecture,” the group said, insisting that effective law enforcement relies entirely on local intelligence. “Police officers must be recruited from and deployed to the local environment they are familiar with, because of their knowledge of the culture and familiarity with their environment.”
The think tank also directed a strong appeal to state governors, demanding that local communities and traditional stakeholders be actively mobilized to take ownership of their own security.
Defining community mobilization as an absolute priority for good governance, the group stated: “Participation is about addressing the interests of the entire community, with security at the very top.”
The “doctrine of necessity” is a rare legal instrument previously used by Nigeria’s parliament in 2010 to resolve a major constitutional crisis by appointing an acting president without a formal constitutional vote. The think tank believes the current wave of violent crime across the country justifies the same emergency approach to restructuring the police force.
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