Villagers’ revolt in Sokoto rekindles debate on State Police
By Austine Agbo Emmanuel, Kaduna
The cycle of violence in northern Nigeria has taken another disturbing turn, with residents of Shagari and Bimasa in Sokoto State resorting to self-defence after years of deadly raids.
Armed with locally made weapons, the villagers launched counterattacks against bandits who had plagued their communities, killing at least fifteen of the assailants and rescuing abducted relatives.
While some voices have praised their courage, the development lays bare a deeper concern: rural populations increasingly believe survival now rests in their own hands rather than with the protection of the state. This sense of abandonment has intensified fears of reprisals and deepened the gulf between citizens and government.
The Sokoto confrontation has once again exposed the fragility of rural life in the North, where raids, mass abductions, and forced displacement have become routine. Only days before the counteroffensive, youths in Shagari had staged protests, vowing to arm themselves if government failed to respond. It was against this tense backdrop that President Bola Tinubu restated his commitment to establishing state police.
Across Nigeria, the call for state-controlled policing is gathering momentum. Influential groups such as Afenifere, the Arewa Consultative Forum, and the Middle Belt Forum describe it as inevitable, arguing that decentralised policing will place law enforcement closer to communities, deliver faster responses to threats, and restore accountability in security operations.
Not everyone is convinced. Retired military officers and some northern leaders caution that state police could be manipulated by governors for partisan purposes. They point to Nigeria’s political history as evidence that such an arrangement could become a tool of intimidation against political opponents.
The Northern Elders Forum has gone further, pressing for the declaration of a state of emergency in the region. The elders insist that killings, abductions, and destruction of livelihoods have reached such an extreme scale that only extraordinary federal intervention can halt the slide. In their latest communique, they warned that further delay from Abuja may push the region closer to anarchy.
These sharply differing views reflect an unsettled mood across the North. While the Northern States Governors’ Forum recently threw its weight behind the idea of state police, the elders argue that nothing short of sweeping federal action can restore stability. The divergence underscores the severity of insecurity and its corrosive impact on political consensus.
The broader picture is no less grim. From Sokoto, where villagers faced bandits head-on, to Katsina, where worshippers were recently massacred, to Benue’s Yelewata, where destruction persists unresolved, Nigerians continue to live under the shadow of violence. Senator Ali Ndume’s warning that Boko Haram recognises neither faith nor ethnicity reinforces the reality that insecurity knows no boundaries.
President Tinubu has acknowledged the scale of the crisis. His repeated calls for state police, his directive for daily security briefings, and his approval of new surveillance technologies suggest political resolve. Yet resolve alone cannot substitute for practical reforms and measurable results. Without these, the killings in Sokoto and elsewhere will embolden criminals further and provoke more desperate acts of self-help.
Nigeria’s security architecture must be strengthened and restructured through a balanced mix of state policing, federal support, and community resilience. Failure to act decisively risks pushing the country into deeper lawlessness, where citizens no longer trust the state to safeguard their lives.
The uprising in Sokoto should not be dismissed as an act of bravery alone. It is a cry for help and a warning signal that the nation ignores at its peril.