DOPF Urges Delta Gov to Sign Community Security Law Amid Rising Insecurity

The Delta State Online Publisher Forum (DOPF) has urgently appealed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to give immediate assent to the Delta State Community Security Corps Agency Bill, 2025, which has been pending since its passage by the State House of Assembly.

In a statement issued on Friday, the forum expressed deep concern over the rising insecurity in the state and emphasized that the law’s swift implementation is vital to bolster grassroots security efforts.

The bill, sponsored by Hon. (Dr.) Isaac Anwuzia, aims to establish a formal Community Security Corps Agency to complement existing security agencies and enhance intelligence gathering at the community level.

Despite clear legislative approval and commendations for the governor’s recent signing of the Anti-Terrorism Law, the forum lamented the delay in signing the community security bill into law, warning that it hampers efforts to combat threats such as kidnapping, farmer-herdsmen conflicts, and violent crimes threatening public safety and economic stability.

DOPF, in the statement, signed by its Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Enebeli, and Secretary, Mr. Shedrack Onitsha, explained why the governor should urgently assent to the bill and commence its implementation.

The forum said that they are voicing out their stance with a deep sense of responsibility and patriotism because there has been a growing security concern in the State, particularly the persistent attacks on farmers by armed herdsmen.

They mentioned cases of kidnapping for ransom, and other violent crimes that now threaten livelihoods, food security, and public confidence in governance.

“It is in this context that we respectfully urge Your Excellency to sign into law the Delta State Community Security Corps Agency Law, 2025”, DOPF said.

The bill, which repealed the 2020 version of the law, was deliberately crafted to provide a more robust, structured, and legally grounded framework for community-based policing and grassroots security across the state.

According to DOPF, “the intention of the House was clear: to strengthen Delta State’s security architecture by establishing a formal Community Security Corps Agency that can complement conventional security agencies, like the Amotekun in the South-West, improve intelligence gathering, and respond swiftly to local security threats that federal forces alone are overstretched to handle”.

The forum, however commended the governor for assenting to the Delta State Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Cultism (Amendment) Law, 2025, and launching Delta State Security Trust Fund.

They expressed concern that the Delta State Community Security Corps Agency Law, which provides the operational backbone for effective grassroots security enforcement, has remained unsigned several months after passage.

“This delay raises troubling questions, especially when viewed against the fate of the Delta State Anti-Open Grazing Law, which, despite being enacted in the last dispensation, has largely remained dormant, even as Deltans continue to suffer violent attacks on their farms by marauding herdsmen”.

The forum expressed dismay that laws without enforcement structures become “symbolic documents, not instruments of protection”.

DOPF said that the current security climate in the state, “makes the need for this law even more urgent”.

They contended that with “reports of terrorist elements being displaced from the North-East following recent international military operations, there is growing fear that criminal networks may seek refuge in relatively softer regions, including parts of the Niger Delta”.

They maintained that signing the bill into law should go hand in hand with the immediate establishment of clear structures for its implementation, including recruitment guidelines, training standards, funding mechanisms, oversight frameworks, and coordination protocols with existing security agencies.

DOPF said that assenting to the law and activating its provisions will send a powerful message that “your administration is proactive, people-centered, and determined to protect lives, investments, farmlands, and communities, rather than reacting after irreparable damage has been done”.

They urged the governor “to sign and implement the Community Corps Agency Law, 2025, as a decisive New Year gift to Deltans, with an “reassurance that their safety matters and that laws enacted in their name will not be allowed to gather dust on government shelves”.