Group known as Law Students of faculty of Law, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti have called for an investigation of the professorship title conferred on the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Edo State, Professor Roland Otaru (SAN).

In a petition signed by Comrade K. Akanbi, and addressed to the National Universities Commission (NUC), and Council of Legal Education, the group alleged that Otaru may have compromised the authorities of the school to get the title.

The petition dated December 7, 2025, and made available to newsmen in Benin on Monday, the students described the conferment as “a great academic fraud” and called for investigation.

The petition reads: “The said Otaru is a full time private legal practitioner in Ilorin Kwara State who got his PhD in law two years ago from one private University in Ogun State.

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“He has neither taught nor examined postgraduate law students anywhere in Nigeria to qualify him for appointment as an Associate Professor of law (Reader), let alone Professor of law.

“It is for this reason that we ask that the circumstances surrounding the alleged conferment of the Professor of law status on Mr. Roland Otaru is investigated and the culprits are brought to book.”

They threatened a week-long protest by mid-January 2026 if the issue was not investigated.

“As law students, we have decided to speak up, because our lecturers who know the truth are afraid of shaking tables.”

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However, a source in the Dean of Students office in the school said via telephone that they were not aware of the existence of such a group in the University.

Contacted, Otaru denied the allegation, saying it could be a deliberate attempt to smear his rising profile.

He insisted that he was duly appointed as a Professor by the Senate of the University.

“It is very funny. The Senate of the university conferred it on me, I have a letter to that effect and on that day, I was not the only one, we were about four, it was an approval from the Senate of the University and I delivered the lecture on that day, 9th of December 2024.

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“I am a PhD holder. I have two Masters Degrees and I have up to five or six fellowships. I have been a SAN working for the past 20 years so what are they talking about?

“Maybe somebody there engineered it because of my rising profile.

“It is not a fake award, I don’t know what they want but there is no cause for alarm. I have the letter of the award.

“They were there that day, they were there when I delivered the lecture, it was an assemblage of all students in that faculty and I delivered the lecture there. There was no financial inducement, nothing like that, I think it was based on merit.”

The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has declared strong support for the establishment of state police, saying decentralised policing is urgently needed to confront Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.

He stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, which was monitored by our correspondent.

Adams said he “totally agrees” with the position of the Southern Governors’ Forum, which recently renewed its call for state police as part of restructuring the country’s policing system.

The leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress also commended South-West governors for taking the lead on the issue.

“Anybody who loves this country will not disagree with state police, considering the situation we have,” he said.

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Addressing concerns that state governors may misuse state police against political opponents, Adams said such fears should not overshadow the need to prioritise the protection of lives and property.

“Let us first talk about the protection of life and property, which is the primary responsibility of any government. Partisan politics is secondary,” he stated.

Adams argued that one of the major weaknesses of the current security structure is the deployment of officers who are not familiar with the communities they serve. He stressed that effective policing requires personnel drawn from local environments, who understand the terrain, history and people.

“If people in the community are not allowed to police and secure their area, bringing someone unfamiliar with the environment will make the job very difficult,” he said.

Using his hometown of Arigidi-Akoko in Ondo State as an example, Adams explained that residents possess in-depth knowledge of the community’s history, forest routes, and families that have lived there for generations—information that helps identify criminal elements and trace incidents quickly.

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“We know our forests. We know where intruders enter. We know individuals with criminal backgrounds. Community members can provide intelligence that outsiders cannot,” he said.

Adams emphasised that Nigeria, with its three-tier system of government, cannot rely solely on a centralised policing structure.

He maintained that for security to be effective, each tier—federal, state, and local—must be allowed to develop its own police framework.

“There is no way you can run a country with three tiers of governance but only one structure of policing. Without allowing the three tiers to have their own policing structures, you cannot achieve effective security,” he said.

Demands for state policing have intensified in recent months, driven by rising insecurity across the country.

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The Southern Governors’ Forum, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, traditional rulers, civil society groups, and security experts have repeatedly called on the Federal Government to decentralise policing.

Several governors, especially from the South-West, have argued that the centralised Nigeria Police Force is overstretched and unable to respond swiftly to localised security threats.

Regional outfits such as Amotekun in the South-West and vigilante groups in the North have emerged as stopgap measures, further fuelling debate over constitutional restructuring to allow state-controlled police services.

Despite concerns about potential political misuse, advocates insist that decentralised policing is essential for intelligence gathering, quicker response times, and stronger community involvement.

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Adams’ comments add to the growing pressure on the Federal Government to adopt state policing as part of broader reforms aimed at strengthening the country’s security system.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu had called on the National Assembly to review existing laws to allow states to establish their own police forces, as part of efforts to address rising insecurity across the country.

This was contained in a statement issued on November 26 by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, declaring a nationwide security emergency.

“I call on the National Assembly to begin reviewing our laws to allow states that require state police to establish them,” he said.

The President also added that his “administration will support state governments that have set up security outfits to safeguard their people from terrorists bent on disrupting our national peace.”

The Federal High Court in Abuja declined to grant a motion ex parte filed by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, seeking his transfer from the Sokoto Correctional Centre to a custodial facility within the Federal Capital Territory or neighbouring Nasarawa State.

Kanu, through the Legal Aid Council, had approached the court with an ex parte application requesting an order directing the Federal Government or the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to immediately transfer him from Sokoto to either the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja or the Keffi Custodial Centre in Nasarawa.

In the alternative, he asked to be transferred to any custodial facility within the court’s jurisdiction, including Suleja or Keffi, to enable him to pursue his appeal effectively.

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However, Justice James Omotosho on Monday declined the request, ruling that such an order could not be granted without hearing from the Federal Government.

The judge directed Kanu to convert the ex parte application into a motion on notice and serve all parties to allow a fair hearing.

Justice Omotosho subsequently fixed January 27, 2026, for the hearing of the motion.