Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, led by Oba Oladipo Olaitan, on Monday, demanded the immediate creation of state police and full implementation of the 2014 National Conference report, warning that continued centralised policing is fuelling insecurity across the country.
The call was made in the wake of the threat by President Donald Trump to invade Nigeria over alleged Christian genocide.
Afenifere said rising international condemnation of insecurity in Nigeria, including recent comments over possible foreign intervention, was a direct consequence of the government’s failure to reform the policing system and restructure the country.
In a statement by its leader, Olaitan, and National Publicity Secretary, Justice Faloye, the group described the Federal Government’s delay in decentralising the security architecture as responsible for the loss of thousands of Nigerian lives in the last decade.
The statement read, “Regardless of whether the killings are described as religious or ethnic genocide, the fact remains that lives are being wasted due to the continued refusal to create state and local government police.”
It recalled its May 29, 2025, mid-term assessment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, where it warned that the centralised police structure placed full responsibility for rising killings across the country on the President.
Afenifere also criticised the government for what it called “overcentralisation of governance,” citing the absence of Nigerian ambassadors in key countries such as the United States, which it claimed weakened diplomatic leverage amid global concerns about Nigeria’s security crisis.
The statement read, “Nigeria suddenly faces the threat of foreign intervention without diplomatic buffers. The Presidency cannot directly manage diplomatic relations; ambassadors must be appointed immediately.”
According to Afenifere, failure to restructure and establish state police may plunge the country into sectarian conflict under the guise of humanitarian intervention.
The organisation urged Nigerians to reject foreign involvement and unite behind local solutions to ethnic and sectarian tensions.
“We demand immediate implementation of state police and the 2014 Confab resolutions. This will save lives, restore peace and prevent foreign interference in Nigeria’s affairs,” Afenifere insisted.
