Soldiers Are Not Policemen: How Nigeria’s Overreliance on the Military Is Weakening the Police—and Endangering National Security
Former Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai warns that constant military deployment for internal security is weakening the Nigeria Police Force. This in-depth analysis examines why soldiers should return to core defense duties, how police reform is critical, and what Nigeria must do to rebalance its security architecture.
Soldiers Are Not Policemen—and Nigeria Is Paying the Price
When a former Chief of Army Staff speaks about national security, Nigerians should listen carefully. Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd.), one of Nigeria’s longest-serving army chiefs, recently issued a warning that cuts to the heart of the country’s fragile security structure: the increasing deployment of the military for routine internal security duties is weakening the Nigeria Police Force and other civilian security agencies, even if it appears to provide short-term stability.
This is not a theoretical concern. It is a lived reality across Nigeria today. From highways to communities, from elections to protests, from banditry hotspots to urban crime scenes, soldiers—rather than police officers—have become the first responders. For many Nigerians, calling the military now feels more effective than calling the police. That reality alone exposes a dangerous institutional failure.
Buratai’s warning is timely, honest, and uncomfortable. And it deserves serious national reflection.
Short-Term Stability, Long-Term Damage
There is no denying that military deployment has helped contain violence in several crisis-prone areas. Soldiers are disciplined, heavily armed, and trained to respond decisively. In moments of extreme breakdown, their presence can restore order quickly.
But national security cannot be built on emergency measures forever.
What Nigeria is experiencing today is not “military support to civil authority” as envisioned by the Constitution—it is the gradual substitution of the police by the armed forces. This shift may calm crises temporarily, but it creates long-term structural damage.
Every time soldiers take over routine policing duties, three dangerous things happen:
1. The Police Lose Relevance and Confidence
2. The Military Becomes Overstretched and Distracted
3. Civil-Military Balance Breaks Down
These are not abstract risks. They are already happening.
When Citizens Trust Soldiers More Than Police, the System Has Failed
One of the most damning indicators of Nigeria’s security imbalance is public behavior. In many communities today, if bandits strike, people instinctively call the military—not the police. This is not because the police are constitutionally irrelevant, but because public trust has collapsed.
The slogan “Police is your friend” has become a hollow phrase for many Nigerians. Trust cannot be commanded; it must be earned through professionalism, responsiveness, fairness, and accountability.
A police force that citizens fear or distrust cannot function effectively. Intelligence dries up. Community cooperation disappears. Crime festers. And once this happens, the state turns to the military as a blunt instrument to compensate for police failure.
This is a dangerous shortcut.
The Constitutional Reality: Soldiers Are Not Meant for Everyday Policing
Nigeria’s Constitution is clear. The primary role of the armed forces is to:
Defend Nigeria against external aggression
Maintain territorial integrity
Suppress insurrection only when called upon to aid civil authorities
The key phrase is “aid civil authorities”—not replace them.
Internal security is fundamentally a policing function. It requires community intelligence, investigative skills, local knowledge, and continuous civilian engagement. Soldiers are trained for combat, not civilian law enforcement. Expecting them to permanently perform policing duties is both inefficient and risky.
As many serving and retired officers quietly admit, it is professionally uncomfortable—and even embarrassing—for soldiers to be conducting stop-and-search operations, traffic control, and routine patrols in towns and villages. That is not what they are trained for, and it weakens their combat readiness.
A Serving Soldier’s Perspective: This Path Is Unsustainable
From the perspective of serving military personnel, Buratai’s warning resonates deeply. The Nigerian Army today is overstretched. Continuous internal security operations across nearly all states drain manpower, equipment, morale, and budgets meant for core defense readiness.
Every battalion deployed for routine internal security is one less unit training for external threats. Every soldier manning checkpoints is one less soldier preparing for emerging regional dangers—terrorism spillovers, transnational crime, and border instability.
Nigeria does not exist in a vacuum. External threats do not disappear simply because internal insecurity dominates headlines. Ignoring them is how nations get surprised.
Policing Is About Proximity, Not Firepower
The police are meant to be the closest security institution to the people. They understand local terrain, social dynamics, community leaders, and cultural fault lines. This proximity is their greatest strength—when properly harnessed.
Effective policing is intelligence-driven, not force-driven. It relies on trust, information flow, and preventive action. Soldiers can overpower criminals, but only the police can sustainably prevent crime.
By sidelining the police and overusing the military, Nigeria is weakening the very institution designed to provide long-term internal stability.
Dependency Is the Hidden Enemy
One of the most dangerous consequences of military overdeployment is institutional dependency. When police commanders know soldiers will always be deployed to “save the day,” urgency for reform disappears. Capacity building stalls. Initiative weakens.
This dependency culture erodes professionalism and ambition within the police force. It also creates a cycle where the military is perpetually stuck doing jobs that should never have been theirs in the first place.
No serious country builds security this way.
A Direct Message to the Nigeria Police Force: Step Up
This moment is also a wake-up call to officers and leadership of the Nigeria Police Force.
Public trust must be reclaimed—not demanded.
That means:
Firm and decisive law enforcement
Professional conduct at all levels
Intelligence-led operations, not reactive policing
Respect for citizens’ rights
Swift response to distress calls
Accountability for misconduct
The police must once again become a service, not just a force.
When citizens begin to see results—real arrests, professional investigations, visible patrols, and fair treatment—trust will slowly return. Only then can the military safely withdraw from routine internal security roles.
What the Federal Government Must Do—Now
Rebalancing Nigeria’s security architecture requires deliberate political will. The government must:
1. Massively Equip and Reform the Police
Modern tools, training, welfare, and forensic capacity are non-negotiable.
2. Clarify Roles Across Security Agencies
The police should lead internal security, supported by NSCDC and other paramilitary agencies.
3. Create a Clear Exit Strategy for the Military
Soldiers must gradually withdraw from routine IS Ops, except in extreme emergencies.
4. Strengthen Oversight and Accountability
Security reform without accountability is cosmetic.
5. Invest in Intelligence and Community Policing
Sustainable security starts at the grassroots.
National Stability Depends on Getting This Right
Nigeria cannot build long-term peace by turning soldiers into policemen. That path weakens both institutions and exposes the nation to greater danger.
Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai’s warning should not be politicized or ignored. It should be treated as a professional alarm from someone who understands both the battlefield and the state.
A strong Nigeria needs a strong military focused on external defense—and a trusted, capable police force leading internal security.
Anything else is a shortcut to deeper instability.
Nigeria’s future security depends on this rebalance. The time to act is now.
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