Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared a national security emergency, authorising an immediate expansion of the country’s security forces in response to escalating attacks across several states.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Tinubu directed the Nigerian Army, Police, and Department of State Services (DSS) to embark on urgent recruitment, training, and redeployment measures aimed at stabilising the country’s security landscape.
Tinubu announced that the Nigeria Police Force will recruit an additional 20,000 officers, bringing its new total recruitment intake to 50,000. To speed up mobilisation, the President has authorised the police to use National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps as temporary training depots, supplementing existing police colleges.
He also ordered that police officers withdrawn from VIP protection duties be placed into intensive retraining programmes before being deployed to high-risk areas where personnel shortages have weakened law-enforcement visibility.
The DSS has been instructed to immediately deploy all trained forest guards to help flush out armed groups operating from forested hideouts — a tactic long used by insurgents, bandits, and kidnappers across the North-West, North-East and North-Central regions. The agency has also received presidential approval to recruit additional personnel to strengthen operations in remote terrain.
Calling the situation a “national emergency,” Tinubu said the government is now “deploying more boots on the ground, especially in security-challenged areas,” and urged citizens to cooperate with security forces and report suspicious activity.
Tinubu praised Nigeria’s security agencies for their recent successful joint operations, including the rescue of 24 kidnapped schoolgirls in Kebbi State and 38 worshippers abducted in Kwara State. He added that efforts continue to free the remaining students abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State.
The President also signalled readiness to support state governments that have established local security outfits, saying Abuja would work alongside them to confront rising violence. He urged the National Assembly to begin reviewing legislation to allow states that want state police to establish them, a longstanding demand from several governors and civil society groups.
Tinubu further appealed for structural reforms in areas vulnerable to attacks, advising states to reconsider building boarding schools in remote locations without adequate protection, and encouraging religious institutions to seek regular security support during gatherings.
On farmer–herder tensions, the President reiterated that the creation of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development is intended to reduce long-running clashes. He urged herder associations to embrace ranching, abandon open grazing practices, and surrender illegal weapons.
Offering condolences to families affected by recent violence in Kebbi, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Yobe, and Kwara, Tinubu paid tribute to security personnel killed in action, including Brigadier-General Musa Uba.
He warned that armed groups should not mistake the government’s “restraint for weakness,” vowing that his administration has “the courage and determination to keep the country safe.”
Tinubu called on Nigerians to remain calm but vigilant, saying unity and cooperation are essential to restoring peace. “We are in this fight together, and together we shall win,” he said.
