Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.), has called for a gradual withdrawal of the Nigerian military from internal security operations, insisting that policing remains the constitutional responsibility of the Nigeria Police Force.
Irabor made the remarks during an interview on ARISE NEWS monitored by The News Chronicle on Wednesday while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s approval for the expansion of the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions and the recruitment of 28,000 additional soldiers to bolster the country’s security architecture.
Although he welcomed the planned expansion of the Army, the retired general said the military’s prolonged involvement in internal security duties highlights the need to strengthen the police to effectively perform its constitutional mandate.
“The police remains the primary organ for internal security, both law enforcement and internal security. What the military has been doing over the years is more or less supplementary to what the police is expected to do,” he said.
Irabor noted that years of inadequate investment in the police had created operational gaps that forced the military to assume responsibilities beyond its core mandate.
“Over the years, we have had diminishing attention to the police. To a large extent, the various gaps that have existed have now made the military come in to close those gaps,” he said.
He stressed that the time had come for the armed forces to reassess their role in domestic security operations.
“I believe that the time has come for the military to begin to re-evaluate its involvement in internal security,” he added.
The former defence chief, however, said such a transition could only happen if the police were adequately equipped and empowered to take full responsibility for policing the country.
“They can’t do that without the primary organ, which is the police, being able to effectively take up the mantle of policing the country,” he said.
Irabor explained that the military would continue to support civil authorities whenever national security threats exceeded the capacity of the police, as provided by the Constitution.
“Should there be any threat that requires military intervention, the armed forces have been properly prepared in terms of force posture to respond. Even where the police are effectively carrying out their mandate, there may still be situations where, in line with constitutional provisions, the military can be called upon to assist,” he said.
He also expressed confidence that the Federal Government would extend similar attention to other security agencies, saying the President had not lost sight of their operational needs despite the recent focus on the Nigerian Army.
