The Ondo state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Kayode Ajulo, SAN, has declared that the country needs state police to effectively tackle the country’s mounting security challenges.
Ajulo stated this in a statement he personally signed on Thursday, noting that the current centralised policing system is no longer effective in addressing the diverse criminal activities in the country.
The state attorney-general stated that the country’s security challenges differ across regions, with rising herder/farmer conflicts in the North, cultism in the South, kidnapping in the Middle Belt, and oil theft in the Niger Delta.
Calling on stakeholders to support the creation of state police, Ajulo cited the South West Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun, as a successful example of decentralised policing, noting that the system has drastically reduced criminal activities, particularly kidnapping, in the region.
“In the face of this reality, state police is not a fad or a sleight of hand; it is an existential necessity for a federation suffocating under a one-size-fits-all approach. Nowhere does this truth shine brighter than in the quiet but powerful South West Security Network, Operation Amotekun—the South-West’s homegrown innovation that demonstrates how decentralised policing can function equally, transparently, and effectively.
“Enter Operation Amotekun: established in January 2020 and codified into our laws, the South-West Security Network stands as a distinguished example of how decentralised policing can function effectively within a framework of constitutional and democratic oversight. As the Attorney-General of Ondo State, I can affirm that Amotekun operates in full compliance with state law. My office has provided effective supervision of the Agency in Ondo State as prescribed.
“In 2025 alone, its border surge operations created a security ‘firewall’ across the South-West, disrupting infiltration by criminal cells through community-based intelligence that the centralised structure struggles to access at the same speed. These results are rooted not in brute force but in cultural fluency, localised intelligence, and accountability.
“Amotekun’s playbook is emphatic. The data is undeniable: by mid-2025, reported kidnappings in Ondo and Osun dropped by nearly 70 per cent, despite Amotekun operating without full access to arms and resources available to conventional federal agencies. No ethnic pogroms. No governor-driven repression. Just measurable wins”, he stated.
Ajulo commended the governors of the South-West for creating the regional security outfit, charging the National Assembly to legislate proactively on state police, describing it as the most effective way to address the nation’s security problems.
He specifically lauded Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for approving the recruitment of 500 men into the state Amotekun corps and inaugurating Amotekun’s Control Command Centre, which features drones, surveillance systems, intelligent mapping, and real-time citizen security reporting—demonstrating both scalability and modernisation.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu, who declared a nationwide security emergency, had recently called on the National Assembly to review existing laws to allow states to establish their own police forces, as part of efforts to combat rising insecurity nationwide.
“I call on the National Assembly to begin reviewing our laws to allow states that require state police to establish them.” He declared.
PUNCH