Investing Military Funds In Internal Policing Will Reduce Terrorism By Almost 70% — Sowore
Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has said that Nigeria could reduce terrorism by almost 70 percent if the Federal Government diverts part of the military budget into internal policing and security reforms.
“All that cost to the military that is stolen, filtered, or mismanaged—or properly spent where they claimed to—if you invest that in internal policing in a year, you will get a reduction in terrorism by almost 70 per cent.
“You get a reduction in kidnapping by almost 80 per cent, you get almost zero per cent in crime rate all over the country,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
Sowore stated that Nigeria’s security architecture was broken because of poor police welfare and misplaced budget priorities, adding that the police are underpaid and undervalued despite bearing the brunt of internal security.
“An average senator takes 30 to 50 million naira, and a police officer—who doesn’t go to sleep, who guards your borders, houses, parties, children’s schools, and to whom you report whenever anything happens—is getting paid nothing,” the former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), flagbearer, said.
Some police retirees protesting against poor welfare in Abuja and Jalingo, Taraba State, on Monday, July 21, 2025
The publisher insisted that no police officer should earn less than ₦500,000 per month.
“Before you say, ‘Is that fiscally sustainable?’—do you count the cost of not properly equipping and paying a policeman, and judge that against what it will cost if you’re doing the same?
“You cannot leave the police in this condition and expect them to protect you. That is how to judge investment that needs to be made—not to say, ‘Oh, if we pay them well, how are we going to sustain that?’
“You sustain insecurity and know how much it costs you. You know how much an Apache helicopter costs you—instead of spending that money on policing and ensuring that you don’t have to bomb within your country,” he said.
The activist accused the police leadership of corruption and inefficiency, alleging that while “about 210,000 officers are serving,” funds are being disbursed for 250,000 personnel.
He noted that “the Police Force is rotten at the top” and called for an overhaul and “reorganisation of the institution.”
His comments came a day after he joined some retired police officers in a peaceful protest in Abuja, where they demanded improved welfare and a complete exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The officers, who marched to the National Assembly and Force Headquarters under the rain on Monday, decried years of neglect and non-payment of entitlements.
Sowore told reporters during the demonstration that the protest was not only about retirees but also for serving officers, who he claimed continue to suffer under poor conditions.
“The reason we got involved in this is not to fight for retirees; it’s to actually fight for policemen who are still serving,” he said.
READ ALSO: Retired Police Officers In FCT, Taraba Protest Against Poor Welfare
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, met with the protesting retirees at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Monday.
Egbetokun acknowledged their concerns but said that exiting the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was not something that could happen immediately.
“The IGP has ordered that the rights of our retired officers who have chosen to protest must be protected. The protest should serve as a model of dignified expression of grievance,” Force spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi said.
Protests were also held in Taraba State, where retirees carried placards with inscriptions such as “We demand total exit from the deadly Police Contributory Pension Scheme” and “We need our full gratuity.”
