The Delta State Online Publishers Forum (DOPF) has urged the Executive Governor of Delta State, His Excellency Elder Sheriff Oborevwori, to assent to the Bill of Delta State Community Security Corps Agency, 2025, against the backdrop of persistent attacks on farmers by armed herdsmen, cases of kidnapping for ransom, and other violent crimes that now threaten livelihoods, food security, and public confidence in governance.
This was contained in a letter of appeal by the Forum, addressed to His Excellency, dated 06/01/2026, made available to the Press.
The Forum urged the Governor to, as a matter of urgency, sign the Community Security Corps bill into law, sponsored by Hon. (Dr.) Isaac Anwuzia, Chairman of the House Committee on Peace and Security, passed on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, which repeals the 2020 version and which has passed the third reading.
The Forum noted that the intendment of the bill is unequivocal, to institute local security architecture like the Amotekun in the South-West, complementing conventional security agencies, improve intelligence gathering, and respond swiftly to local security threats that has overwhelmed federal forces.
While commending His Excellency for assenting to the Delta State Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Cultism (Amendment) Law, 2025, and launching Delta State Security Trust Fund, the Forum expressed particular 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. Laws without enforcement structures become symbolic documents, not instruments of protection.”: the letter reads in part.
“The current security climate makes the need for this law even more urgent, 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.”: the letter reads further.
The Forum further avers that signing the Community Security Corps bill into law must 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, expressing optimism that this deliberate move will send a powerful message that the present administration is proactive, people-centered, and determined to protect lives, investments, farmlands, and communities, rather than reacting after irreparable damage has been done.
As a call to action, the Online Media Forum appealed to the Governor to present the signing and implementation of the Delta State Community Corps Agency Law, 2025, as a newyear gift to Deltans; reassuring the people that their safety matters and that laws enacted in their name will not be allowed to gather dust on government shelves.
