By Ayo Kehinde 
A former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro, has blamed Nigeria’s deepening insecurity on what he described as the deliberate neglect of the Nigeria Police Force by successive governments.
He said that authorities have must take the blame for allowing the country’s primary internal security agency to become underfunded and ill-equipped.
The former IGP who disclosed this at the First Daily National Dialogue on Security in Abuja, Okiro, stated that the country’s escalating wave of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes is closely linked to years of inadequate investment in policing.
According to him, while the police remain constitutionally designated as the lead agency for internal security, the force has been deprived of the funding, equipment and operational support required to carry out its responsibilities effectively.
He argued that the inability of the Nigeria Police Force to respond decisively to growing security threats is not due to a lack of commitment by officers but rather the failure of government to provide the necessary resources.
Okiro accused the authorities of consistently neglecting the police despite the increasing complexity of security challenges across the country, warning that the consequences of such neglect are now evident in the rising level of insecurity.
“The police is the lead agency for internal security. But the government deliberately, I say deliberately, without any fear of contradiction, disarmed the police. The result is insecurity”, he said.
He explained that effective policing requires sustained investment in modern weapons, intelligence gathering, communication technology, surveillance equipment, mobility, personnel training and welfare, noting that these critical areas have suffered years of underfunding.
The former IGP stressed that expecting the police to combat heavily armed criminal groups without adequate operational capacity places officers at a serious disadvantage and undermines national security.
He further argued that strengthening the Nigeria Police Force should be at the centre of the country’s security strategy, insisting that no nation can guarantee internal security when its frontline law enforcement agency lacks the tools required to perform its constitutional duties.
Okiro called on the Federal Government to significantly increase budgetary allocations to the police, modernise its operational equipment, improve officers’ welfare and invest in critical security infrastructure capable of responding to emerging threats.
He also advocated sustained investment in intelligence-led policing, technology-driven crime fighting, forensic capabilities and continuous professional training, saying such measures are essential to rebuilding public confidence in the force.
According to him, addressing Nigeria’s security crisis requires more than deploying the military to internal operations, stressing that a well-funded and professionally equipped police force remains indispensable for effective law enforcement and crime prevention.
He warned that unless urgent steps are taken to reverse years of neglect, criminal networks will continue to exploit the operational weaknesses of the police, thereby worsening insecurity across the country.
