Security analyst urges U.S. to expand police training programme in Nigeria
Security analyst Kingsley Okafor has urged the United States government to extend and broaden its police training programme in Nigeria. He cautioned that letting the initiative to lapse could weaken
Security analyst Kingsley Okafor has urged the United States government to extend and broaden its police training programme in Nigeria. He cautioned that letting the initiative to lapse could weaken ongoing security efforts as Washington deepens its military advisory role in the country.
Okafor’s appeal followed the arrival of approximately 100 American troops at Bauchi Airfield in northeastern Nigeria on February 16, 2026. The deployment marks the first large-scale presence of U.S. military trainers in Nigeria in recent years.
The exercise, overseen by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), comes after U.S. airstrikes targeting Islamic State-linked militants in Sokoto State on Christmas Day 2025 and is part of renewed security cooperation between Abuja and Washington.
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In a statement issued in Kaduna, Okafor noted that over the past three years, retired American law enforcement professionals have partnered with the Nigeria Police Force, training more than 400 officers across critical units, including the Complaint Response Unit, Counter Terrorism Unit, Mobile Police Unit, and Special Intervention Squad.
"Under the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) program, American police trainers have spent the past three years collaborating directly with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
“The INL programme has strengthened not just operational effectiveness, but professionalism, accountability, and community trust within the Nigeria Police Force,” Okafor said.
According to him, the curriculum has covered Public Order Management, Police Tactics, Firearms Training, Use of Force protocols, Human Rights compliance, Medical First Responder Training, Community Policing strategies, Leadership Development, Train-the-Trainer modules, and Verbal De-escalation techniques.
“This is not a cosmetic intervention,” he stated. “It is institutional reform work. You cannot build that for three years and then simply switch it off without consequences.”
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Okafor warned that institutional knowledge, interpersonal trust, and cultural familiarity built during the programme represent strategic assets that cannot be quickly replicated.
“Many of these trainers have embedded within the system. They understand the operational realities and the sensitivities within the chain of command. That relational capital is difficult to rebuild once lost,” he said.
He further cautioned against creating a disconnect between military and police capacity-building efforts.
“The overlap between the Counter Terrorism Unit and AFRICOM’s advisory mandate is significant,” Okafor noted. “If these initiatives operate in parallel without coordination, we risk duplication on one side and dangerous gaps on the other.”
Rather than framing the situation as a choice between military engagement and police reform, Okafor argued that synergy is essential.
“Nigeria does not need to choose between existing programmes and new deployments. What we need is coherence,” he said. “The INL trainers bring contextual knowledge. The newly deployed military advisers bring scale, funding, and renewed political mandate. Together, these assets can reinforce one another.”
“You do not cut the roots while you are still trying to grow the tree,” Okafor said. “If the United States is investing hundreds of millions of dollars and deploying advisers, it should not allow a foundational police reform initiative to quietly expire at the same time.”
