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Petition to the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
To: His Excellency, the President of the Senate, National Assembly Complex, Three Arms Zone, Abuja; and the Rt. Honourable Speaker, House of Representatives, National Assembly Complex, Three Arms Zone, Abuja.
Date: December 2025
From: Think Yorùbá First Political Action Committee (TYFPAC), acting on behalf of the Coalition of Concerned Indigenous People of Kwara South, Kogi State and the North-Central Region.
Subject: Urgent petition against the systemic collapse of federal security and the dangerous empowerment of non-indigenous proxies in Nigeria’s hinterlands.
Preamble
We, the undersigned members of the Think Yorùbá First Political Action Committee (TYFPAC) and the indigenous communities of Nigeria’s North-Central region, bring this petition before the Bicameral Legislature. We stand on the authority of Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandates that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
Currently, the Federal Government is failing in this primary duty. Our communities are besieged, and the current centralised security architecture has proven not only incompetent but complicit in the displacement of indigenous populations.
1. The collapse of the federal policing monopoly
The centralised policing model has collapsed. In regions such as Kwara South (Ifelodun LGA) and Kogi State, federal security agencies are consistently overwhelmed, underfunded and unresponsive to distress calls from indigenous farming communities. This vacuum has created a “sovereignty gap” where criminal syndicates operate with impunity. The reliance on a single police force controlled from Abuja, detached from the local terrain and cultural nuances, has turned our ancestral lands into ungoverned spaces.
2. The dangerous substitution: arming non-state actors
Most alarmingly, we have observed a disturbing trend where, rather than empowering local stakeholders, federal and state actors are allegedly turning to non-indigenous groups to fill the security void.
We cite specifically the controversy surrounding the involvement of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in security operations, allegedly coordinated by elements within the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
- The alienation of locals: In places like Ifelodun LGA, the indigenous people view these groups not as protectors, but as the very source of their insecurity.
- The threat to peace: Empowering a trade union with a specific ethnic and occupational interest (cattle breeding) to police farming communities is a conflict of interest that breeds ethnic tension.
- Lack of accountability: Unlike state actors, these groups lack clear rules of engagement or constitutional oversight, leading to fears of an unchecked militia operating on indigenous soil.
3. The constitutional imperative for indigenous self-defence
The solution to local insecurity is local knowledge. Indigenous hunters and community vigilantes possess the terrain intelligence, the linguistic capability and the moral stake required to secure their own forests. Yet, while non-indigenous actors are reportedly shielded or empowered, our local hunters are frequently disarmed, harassed or sidelined by federal authorities. This imbalance suggests a systematic attempt to weaken indigenous capacity for self-defence.
Our prayers to the National Assembly
We, the petitioners, therefore call upon the Senate and the House of Representatives to:
- Launch a bipartisan probe. Immediately constitute a Joint Committee to investigate the legality and funding of “proxy security” arrangements involving the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and non-state actors like MACBAN. We demand to know why non-indigenous groups are being integrated into the security architecture of Kwara and Kogi states.
- Enact the vigilante regulatory framework. Pass emergency legislation to formally recognise, regulate and fund Indigenous Community Vigilantes and Hunters. This framework must place them under the direct supervision of State Governors and Local Government Chairmen, not federal agencies in Abuja.
- Demand police devolution. Accelerate the Constitutional Review process to unbundle the Nigerian Police Force. We demand the immediate removal of policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, allowing states to establish State Police forces that reflect the ethnic and cultural realities of their jurisdictions.
- Stop the criminalisation of self-defence. Issue a legislative resolution prohibiting security agencies from disarming registered local hunters and indigenous vigilante groups who are protecting their communities against banditry.
Conclusion
The indigenous people of the North-Central and Yorùbá territories will no longer accept a security arrangement that leaves us vulnerable to invaders while disarming our defenders. We look to the National Assembly to restore the constitutional balance and empower the people to protect their lives, lands and livelihoods.
Respectfully submitted,
The Directorate, Think Yorùbá First Political Action Committee (TYFPAC)
Evidentiary annex (summary of citations)
- Evidence A (Insecurity indices): Reports detailing the rise in kidnapping and banditry in Kwara South and Kogi State (sources: local NGO reports, 2024–2025).
- Evidence B (The proxy controversy): Public records and media reports citing the deployment of MACBAN members in security roles and the subsequent public outcry in Ifelodun LGA (sources: Punch, Vanguard, Sahara Reporters).
- Evidence C (The arms allegation): Reports of arrests involving armed non-state actors operating with federal cover or vehicles outside their jurisdiction (sources: police press releases, eyewitness accounts).
- Evidence D (Expert consensus): Security memoranda advocating for the use of local hunters due to their mastery of the terrain (sources: security experts and stakeholder forums).
