State police without community policing: Recipe for failure

By Kola Onadipe
The State Police Bill, as passed by the House of Representative at its special priority sitting on June 11, 2026, without specific mention or related rules pertaining to the creation of community policing, is another recipe for baskets of chaos and business as usual. Nothing fundamental has changed.
That the idea of state police is as old as this present democracy is not in doubt. President Bola Tinubu has been an advocate of the proposition for several years, even after his exit from office as Lagos State governor.
Curiously, despite the fact that insecurity had not attained its present level, the vocal voices of that era remained resilient. Therefore, many saw th...