SPY POLICE AS AGENTS OF PEACEBUILDING AND NATIONAL SECURITY BY DR AKANDE KAZEEM BABATUNDE JP, PEIPA, mni

SPY POLICE AS AGENTS OF PEACEBUILDING AND NATIONAL“ SECURITY BY DR AKANDE KAZEEM BABATUNDE JP, PEIPA, mni – 08036669747, 07080570388

POLICY FRAMEWORK

From Supernumerary Status to Strategic Security Asset

Nigeria’s security architecture is under severe strain. With a police-to-citizen ratio of 1:600 against the United Nations standard of 1:450, and over 80 percent of regular police personnel deployed to non-core duties, critical gaps persist in intelligence, surveillance, and community policing. Yet, within this strained system exists a powerful but underleveraged reserve the Spy Police, formally recognized as Supernumerary Police under Section 18 of the Police Act 2020. At present, Spy Police are recruited, trained, and deployed by private organizations and government institutions to protect designated facilities. They secure banks, oil installations, universities, airports, and critical infrastructure. However, despite their training, uniforms, and statutory powers, they remain peripheral to Nigeria’s national security framework poorly integrated, unevenly trained, and disconnected from formal intelligence systems.

Policy Thrust: To reposition, professionalise, and formally integrate Spy Police as a strategic reserve force for community policing, intelligence gathering, and peacebuilding within Nigeria’s non-kinetic national security architecture.

Strategic Rationale Force Multiplier: With over 100,000 personnel nationwide, Spy Police constitute Nigeria’s largest untapped uniformed reserve for internal security.

Intelligence Advantage: Their static deployment within high-risk and high-value environments provides access to real-time, actionable intelligence.

Cost Efficiency: Being privately funded, they expand national security capacity without imposing additional fiscal burden on the Federal Government.

Preventive Security: Their fixed, community-embedded roles make them ideal for early warning, conflict detection, and de-escalation.

Legal Authority: Section 18 of the Police Act 2020 confers on them the full powers, privileges, and immunities of police officers within their jurisdiction when on duty.

Policy Doctrine: Where conventional policing is overstretched, Spy Police extend reach.

Where response is delayed, Spy Police enable prevention.

CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

CONCLUSION

From Private Guards to National Security Multipliers Nigeria cannot effectively secure over 200 million citizens with a stretched and overtasked regular police force alone. The Spy Police are not merely private guards. They are trained, uniformed, and legally empowered personnel already positioned at the frontlines of Nigeria’s economic and social infrastructure. They are present where threats often originate in financial institutions, educational campuses, industrial facilities, and residential communities.

The Security Imperative: Every facility secured by Spy Police is a vulnerability reduced.

Every intelligence report they generate is a threat disrupted. Every incident they prevent is a crisis averted. This is not auxiliary work. This is national security in action.

Final Policy Charge: Nigeria does not lack security personnel. It lacks the integration of the personnel it already has. Spy Police must move from the margins to the mainstream of national security strategy. Their eyes must become the nation’s early warning system. Their presence must become the nation’s preventive shield. A nation that mobilizes its existing security assets does not just respond to threats. It anticipates and neutralizes them.

Recommendation One: Strategic Re-Designation

The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs, in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Nigeria Police Force, should redesignate Spy Police as Community Security and Intelligence Officers within the National Security Strategy.

Implementation Strategies

i. The Federal Ministry of Police Affairs in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser to formulate and issue a National Policy on Spy Police and National Security by Second Quarter, 2026.

ii. The Inspector-General of Police to issue Force Order 125 Amendment expanding the operational mandate of Spy Police to include intelligence gathering, early warning, and peacebuilding support within approved beats, by Third Quarter, 2026.

iii. The Office of the National Security Adviser to integrate Commandants of Spy Police Units securing Critical National Infrastructure into State Security Councils as observers, by Fourth Quarter, 2026.

Recommendation Two: Legal Strengthening and Oversight

The National Assembly should amend the Police Act 2020 to strengthen the legal framework, funding, and oversight of Spy Police as national security auxiliaries.

Implementation Strategies

i. The Federal Ministry of Police Affairs to draft and sponsor the Police Act 2020 Amendment Bill to provide for standardised training, command structure, and inter-operability of Spy Police, by Second Quarter, 2026.

ii. The National Assembly to amend Section 18 of the Police Act to mandate all organisations with 50 or more Spy Police to establish Intelligence Liaison Units linked to Divisional Police Headquarters, by Fourth Quarter, 2026.

iii. The National Assembly to amend the Police Trust Fund Act to allocate one percent of annual accruals for centralised training, vetting, equipping, and mobilisation of Spy Police nationwide, by Third Quarter, 2026.

Recommendation Three: Professionalisation and Certification

The Nigeria Police Force, in collaboration with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies through the National Peace and Security Centre, should transform Spy Police into Certified Community Peace and Intelligence Officers.

Implementation Strategies

i. The Nigeria Police Force in collaboration with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies to develop and approve a National Standard Curriculum for Spy Police covering Intelligence Gathering, Early Warning Systems, Conflict Mediation, Human Rights, Peacebuilding, and Counter-Terrorism Awareness, by Third Quarter, 2026.

ii. The Nigeria Police Force and Police Colleges to train, assess, and re-certify all Spy Police personnel nationwide under the standardised curriculum, by Third Quarter, 2026.

iii. The Police Service Commission to establish and maintain a Central Registry and Vetting System for all Spy Police to ensure accountability and prevent infiltration, by Third Quarter, 2026.

Recommendation Four: Operational Integration

The Federal and State Governments should establish formal operational linkages between Spy Police and security agencies for intelligence fusion and coordinated preventive response.

Implementation Strategies

i. The Nigeria Police Force to establish Spy Police Intelligence Desks at all Divisional Police Headquarters and Area Commands for structured information exchange, by Third Quarter, 2026.

ii. The Department of State Services and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to co-opt Commandants of Spy Police into Critical National Infrastructure Protection Committees for joint threat assessment, by Third Quarter, 2026.

iii. The National Information Technology Development Agency in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force to develop and deploy the National Spy Police Reporting Platform linked to Police Situation Rooms for geo-tagged incident and intelligence reporting, by Second Quarter, 2026.

Recommendation Five: Rebranding and Public Trust

The Federal Ministry of Police Affairs, in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency and the Police Service Commission, should reposition Spy Police as credible partners in peace and security.

Implementation Strategies

i. The National Orientation Agency to design and execute a nationwide strategic communication campaign themed “Spy Police: Your Neighbourhood Guardians” to reposition public perception, by Fourth Quarter, 2026.

ii. The Nigeria Police Force to redesign Spy Police uniforms and identification for uniformity, dignity, and clear distinction from regular police, by Third Quarter, 2026.

iii. The Police Service Commission to establish a Spy Police Oversight and Complaints Unit to investigate misconduct, enforce discipline, and protect human rights, by Second Quarter, 2026.

REFERENCES

Federal Republic of Nigeria. Police Act 2020. Federal Government Press, 2020.

Office of the National Security Adviser. National Security Strategy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2019. Federal Government of Nigeria, 2019.

Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Strategic Conflict Assessment of Nigeria. IPCR, 2022.

National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies. Non-Kinetic Approaches to National Security: Policy Options for Nigeria. NIPSS Policy Paper Series, 2023.

United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security. Oxford University Press, 1994.

Federal Ministry of Police Affairs. Community Policing Framework and Guidelines for Nigeria. 2020.

Buzan, B. People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era. Lynne Rienner, 1991.

Bayley, D.H. Police for the Future. Oxford University Press, 1994.

Police Service Commission. Guidelines for the Recruitment and Management of Supernumerary Police. PSC, 2021.