Decentralize Nigeria Police to Stop Terror: US Senator

U.S. Senator Riley Moore has called for the decentralization of Nigeria’s national police force, citing the need for state governments to better protect citizens following a deadly attack on a Catholic church in Taraba State. The suggestion comes after suspected Fulani herdsmen burned down St. James Catholic Church in Adu, an incident highlighting persistent security crises in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region.

Senator Moore, a Republican from West Virginia, made the proposal in a statement on his official X (formerly Twitter) account. He urged the Nigerian federal government to empower regional authorities to combat what he described as “radical Islamic terrorists” targeting Christian communities. “Christians in Nigeria continue to face brutal violence and death,” Moore wrote. “The government in Abuja must step up and protect their citizens in the Middle Belt. It’s past time to decentralize police authorities so state governments can protect their citizens and stop this horrific persecution.”

The attack on the church in Taraba is part of a long history of violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, a region often marked by conflicts between predominantly Christian farmers and Muslim herders. While the perpetrators of the Adu attack are described as Fulani herdsmen, such incidents are frequently framed within broader narratives of terrorism, banditry, and communal strife. The Nigerian Police Force remains a centralized, federal institution accountable to the national government in Abuja, a structure critics argue is ill-equipped to respond to localized security threats.

Moore’s advocacy for state-level policing aligns with a recurring debate within Nigeria, where several regional governors and political actors have previously called for devolving security management to state control. Proponents argue that decentralization would allow for more responsive and culturally informed policing, while opponents warn it could fragment national security coordination and exacerbate inter-state tensions. The Nigerian government has historically resisted such reforms, maintaining that a unified command structure is essential for national cohesion.

The senator’s intervention places international attention on Nigeria’s security governance, linking specific acts of violence to a systemic policy recommendation. His remarks arrive amid ongoing concerns from international partners about the Nigerian government’s capacity to restrain widespread insecurity. For Media Talk Africa, the focus remains on how external political figures frame local conflicts and whether such proposals gain traction within Nigeria’s complex federal system. The call for decentralized policing underscores enduring questions about the balance between centralized authority and regional autonomy in addressing protracted violence.