Security & Community Policing
Protecting Lives, Restoring Stability, Enabling Progress
Security is not a background condition for development — it is a precondition for it. Farmers cannot work land they cannot safely reach. Businesses cannot grow in communities under threat. The Tinubu Administration has treated security as a central reform priority, with a sustained and coordinated operational response across every region of the country.
What Has Been Done
Major operational gains across all theatres. Between May 2023 and December 2025, security forces neutralised over 13,500 terrorists and criminal actors, rescued 9,821 hostages, arrested 17,469 suspects, and recovered 11,118 weapons. In 2025 alone, the Armed Forces conducted 274 airstrikes, rescued 2,336 kidnapped victims, and eliminated 20 named terrorist commanders. Illegal oil refining operations have been suppressed, with 503 illegal refineries destroyed, contributing directly to the recovery in crude oil production from approximately 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day.
Military capability modernised. The administration has invested in the equipment and training the armed forces need to operate effectively. Acquisitions include 24 Italian-built M-346FA fighter jets under a €1.2 billion contract, 10 AW-109 Trekker multipurpose helicopters, 12 AH-1 attack helicopters, three new naval patrol vessels, and over 100 refurbished armoured fighting vehicles returned to active service. UAV capability and intelligence-driven operations have been significantly expanded, including joint precision strikes with US AFRICOM against ISIS-linked enclaves in December 2025.
Community-centred policing being built. The administration has driven a constitutional process to establish state police — bringing law enforcement closer to the communities it serves. Bill HB-617, transferring policing to the Concurrent Legislative List, has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives. The Senate has committed to completing the constitutional amendment before the end of 2026. In the interim, community security structures such as South-West Amotekun are being recognised and supported as complementary frameworks.
Security enabling economic recovery. Restored stability in the North-East has allowed internally displaced persons to return to their communities and farmland. Markets have reopened across the North-West and North-Central as military operations have cleared bandit corridors. The suppression of oil theft in the Niger Delta has been a direct factor in the recovery of crude production and foreign reserve growth.
Troop welfare prioritised. The administration has expanded military recruitment, improved housing for serving and disabled personnel, extended the Army Education Sponsorship Scheme to cover 12,800 children of fallen soldiers, and ensured consistent payment of Group Life Assurance to families of those killed in service.
What It Means For Nigerians
Safer roads mean lower transport costs and more movement of goods. Restored farmland access means more food and more rural income. Communities where threats have been degraded are communities where investment returns and services improve. Security is not separate from the economic agenda — it is what makes the economic agenda possible.
Security &
Community
Policing
What government is doing to protect lives, restore stability, and build the conditions for farming, trade, and daily freedom — region by region, community by community.
Security
From Central to Community: The State Police Journey
Tinubu formally requested National Assembly begin constitutional amendment process (Feb 2026)
Bill to move policing to Concurrent List passed second reading in House of Representatives
Senate pledged completion of full constitutional amendment by end of 2026
States authorised to establish own police forces with federal oversight safeguards
President Tinubu challenged governors to adopt intelligence-driven operations, working with communities to identify threats before they escalate. Results like the Kogi arms haul came from coordinated state-federal-community intelligence chains.
In the North-East, troops' operations have "revitalised commercial and agricultural activities, facilitated the return of local authorities, and enabled IDPs to resettle in their communities." Security is a direct enabler of food production.
The Nigerian Army's civil-military cooperation programme is active in multiple states. The administration explicitly instructed the military that security efforts must "win hearts, restore dignity and support development at the grassroots."
South-West states' Amotekun community security network praised as a model. Ondo State declared it "already operating state police through its Security Network Agency." Model being studied for national replication under the constitutional framework.
Security gains enabled IDP resettlement in communities across the North-East. 289 housing units constructed for displaced households. Return of local authorities to previously held communities confirmed in DHQ reports.
Nigeria partnered with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism in April 2024 to host a high-level African summit on "Strengthening Regional Cooperation to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism," strengthening cross-border intelligence partnerships.
Oil production rose from ~1M to 1.5M barrels/day as Navy operations suppressed pipeline theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta.
Foreign reserves grew from $4B to $49B — impossible without investor confidence built on security stability in key production zones.
Food inflation fell from 40% to 10.84% — partly because restored farmland access and reduced displacement allowed more food production.
$50B+ in new FDI commitments recorded — investors return when security signals improve and energy supply stabilises.
Markets reopening in previously conflict-affected areas of the North-West and North-Central as military operations clear bandit corridors.
School reopenings and IDP return confirmed in multiple North-East LGAs where ISWAP and Boko Haram had displaced hundreds of thousands.
Reduced kidnapping along major highways following intensified patrols — enabling safer movement for traders, farmers and travellers.
2,336 families reunited in 2025 alone through hostage rescues across the North-East, North-West and North-Central theatres.
Life
Administration
Nigeria · 2026