President Bola Tinubu has directed the immediate withdrawal of police officers attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs) across the country, ordering that these personnel be redeployed to core policing duties.
The decision was announced after President Tinubu met with the police, Air Force and army chiefs, as well as the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), in Abuja on Sunday.
According to a statement signed by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, VIPs who still require security protection will now be mandated to request armed escorts from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
This shift is expected to free up thousands of police officers for frontline duties.
The move, according to the Presidency, is aimed at correcting years of lopsided personnel allocation that left many rural and semi-urban communities without adequate policing.
Tinubu expresses concern over diminishing police presence in rural areas
President Tinubu expressed deep concern over the diminishing police visibility in many parts of the country, particularly remote areas where security stations operate with skeletal manpower.
He emphasized the need for a return to robust, community-level policing as Nigeria continues to grapple with rising cases of banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, and other violent crimes.
To reinforce this goal, the President has approved the recruitment of 30,000 additional police personnel — one of the largest single expansions of the Nigeria Police Force in recent years. The recruitment drive will be accompanied by a comprehensive upgrade of police training facilities, with the federal government working closely with state governments to ensure modernized, well-equipped academies capable of producing highly trained officers.
The Sunday security briefing was attended by top security chiefs, including the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Waidi Shaibu; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Tosin Adeola Ajayi.
What you should know
Last week, Tinubu postponed his scheduled trips to the 20th G20 Summit and the 7th AU–EU Summit, holding in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, citing “security breaches” in Kebbi and Kwara States.
According to a statement signed by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, the President was awaiting additional security briefings on the abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
President Tinubu ordered the deployment of additional security personnel to Eruku and the entire Ekiti Local Government Area, and instructed the police to pursue the bandits who carried out the attack.
