Nigeria Urgently Needs State, Community Policing, Says Peterside

The founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank and President of Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, has questioned claims that Nigeria’s security situation has improved, saying that road travel across many parts of the country has become increasingly dangerous.

Speaking on Monday, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, Peterside said insecurity has reached a point where many Nigerians are afraid to travel by road without armed escorts.

He shared his own recent experience to show how bad things have become.

“Last week, I drove from Akure to Ondo. People were begging me not to drive from Akure to Ondo. They told me there was a leaked DSS report about plans to attack some communities in Ondo. So when people keep saying things have improved, do they actually go out and travel and test it?” he said.

He stated how rare it was to find routes where Nigerians can travel without fear of being kidnapped or attacked, saying, “It’s almost as if the number of places you can conveniently drive from one town to another is shrinking all the time.”

He explained that in the past, insecurity was mainly a problem in the North-East, especially in states like Borno.

“But now, it has spread to Zamfara, parts of Yobe, and even down to Kogi and Ondo. Ten years ago, would anybody have told you not to drive from Akure to Ondo? That’s how I measure things,” he said.

According to Peterside, the government must face the reality that insecurity has not truly improved, stressing that the everyday experiences of travellers tell a different story from official claims.

Many Nigerians, he said, now depend on night buses, convoys, or prayers to make road trips safely, while others completely avoid certain highways known for kidnapping.

Peterside, who was a delegate at the 2014 National Conference, also used the opportunity to reiterate his long-standing support for the introduction of state and community policing, saying that Nigeria’s current centralised police system cannot effectively handle local crimes.

“Without state policing and community policing, it’s very difficult to deploy somebody from Adamawa or Zamfara to Akwa Ibom and expect him to resolve local crime.

“All over the world, policing is local. A policeman who knows the community can narrow suspects down quickly because he understands the environment.”

Citing examples, Peterside said that in riverine areas, local officers familiar with the terrain can pursue criminals effectively, something outsiders might not manage.

He argued that local knowledge is crucial to effective policing and that communities are more likely to trust and share information with officers they know.

“People are afraid to give information because they don’t trust strangers. But if the police are from their community, they’ll be more open,” he added.

While acknowledging concerns that state policing could be abused by state governors, he stressed that the fear of misuse of state police by governors should not stop Nigeria from adopting it, saying both state and federal police can work together.

“People talk about state policing as if it’s supposed to replace federal policing. No, it’s different levels of policing, which include federal, state, and even possibly community. The idea is that they all operate alongside,” he said.

According to Peterside, true security progress should be measured not by statistics or official claims, but by how freely ordinary citizens can move across the country without needing armed escorts.