Welcome to Thursday’s roundup of Nigerian newspaper headlines, accompanied by our advocacy-focused calls on issues that impact citizens.

1. The Guardian: Tinubu Declares Emergency on Insecurity, Backs Governors on State Police

Facing escalating nationwide attacks, President Bola Tinubu has declared a nationwide security emergency, ordering additional recruitment into the Armed Forces, and pledged to back state governments that have set up local security outfits, while calling on the National Assembly to review laws to enable states to establish their own police forces.

Our Take: As the Federal Government finally warms up to the idea of state police, it must go beyond grand declarations and actually build a system that works, not another committee, task force, or beautifully worded promise that gathers dust. If insecurity has reached the point of a nationwide emergency, then the next steps should be clear.

2. Punch: Boko Haram members found on army, police recruitment lists – Wase

An All Progressives Congress lawmaker representing Wase Federal Constituency in Plateau State, Idris Wase revealed that suspected Boko Haram members and other criminals were once found on the Nigerian Army and police recruitment lists, warning that such infiltration poses a serious threat to national security.

Our Take: If lawmakers are confirming that Boko Haram suspects and other criminals once found their way onto army and police recruitment lists, then the first urgent step is a full-scale investigation into how such a dangerous breach happened. The Presidency, the National Security Advisor, the Ministry of Defence, the Police Service Commission, the Inspector General of Police, and the National Assembly’s Defence and Police Affairs Committees must launch coordinated, independent probes into past and ongoing recruitment exercises. Nigeria cannot keep hiring the very people it’s trying to arrest.

3. The Nation: Senate seeks review of firearm law to allow citizens own guns

The Senate, responding to rising insecurity in Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger states, yesterday passed a resolution calling on the Federal Government to review Nigeria’s firearm laws to permit responsible citizens to own guns. The decision came after lawmakers debated and adopted a motion titled ‘Urgent need to address escalating insecurity in Kwara, Kebbi and Niger States’.

Our Take: Is allowing responsible citizens to own guns really the right move? Before rushing to expand firearm access, the federal government and lawmakers must carefully weigh whether this approach will genuinely improve security or simply turn already tense communities into armed standoffs. The focus should remain on strengthening policing, intelligence, and justice systems, rather than handing out guns and hoping citizens use them ‘responsibly’.