President Bola Tinubu has ordered the withdrawal of police officers assigned to protect Very Important Persons (VIPs) across the country, directing that they be redeployed to strengthen core policing duties nationwide.
The directive emerged from a high-level security meeting the President held on Sunday at the State House in Abuja with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; and Director-General of the Department of State Services, Tosin Adeola Ajayi.
Under the new policy, VIPs seeking armed security are to obtain personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), not the Nigeria Police Force.
A key factor behind the decision is the shortage of police officers in many rural and hard-to-reach communities, leaving stations understaffed and weakening the country’s capacity to prevent and respond to threats.
With security challenges escalating in various parts of Nigeria, President Tinubu said the priority is to boost police presence in communities nationwide. He had already approved the recruitment of 30,000 additional police officers, while the federal government is partnering with state governments to upgrade police training facilities across the country.
The Sunday meeting is part of ongoing efforts to overhaul Nigeria’s internal security architecture and improve response capabilities at the grassroots.
