Retired Nigerian Army General Ishola Williams has called for a clearer separation of responsibilities between the military and the police in addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.
Williams, who previously served as Commandant of the Training and Doctrine Command and later represented Transparency International in Nigeria, made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television aired on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
During the programme, the retired general spoke about the deployment of security forces to various parts of the country and questioned how priorities are determined in ongoing operations against insurgents and criminal groups. “And what is interesting also is that, the police too, they are very funny people,” Williams said.
He referred to the involvement of the Nigerian military in operations targeting criminal groups in parts of the country while insurgency persists in the North-East. “The military keeps running after bandits and criminals in Kwara, Kogi. Soldiers are being killed in Borno,” he stated.
Williams then raised questions about the primary focus of the armed forces in current operations. “Which one is the priority for the soldiers? Run after criminals or taking care of insurgency in the northeast? Which one is the priority?” he asked.
Responding to the question, the programme anchor said, “It should be the insurgency.” Williams acknowledged the response and continued his remarks. “Thank you. Do they understand that?” he said.
According to the retired general, the determination of such priorities should come from the country’s leadership. “That is what, President Bola Tinubu’s decision is supposed to take. And say, hey, military, facing insurgency, police face the criminals,” he stated.
Williams also proposed structural changes involving the Mobile Police Force, commonly known as MOPOL. “And I’ve been saying that MOPOL should be taken away from the police and become the federal paramilitary force,” he said.
He explained that such a restructuring could enable the unit to focus on confronting criminal groups across the country. “That’s what MOPOL was created for. So if you now have Mopo, a federal paramilitary force, they face the criminals and the bandits. The military will face the northeast,” Williams added.
The retired military officer also commented on the security situation in the South-East, stating that he views the matter as a political issue rather than a military one. “And I want to say, the case of IPOB, you don’t even need the military at all. It’s a political issue. It’s a political issue. The one in the southeast is not insurgency,” Williams said.