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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday restated his government\u2019s directive to withdraw police officers assigned to protect VIPs, ministers, and other high-profile figures, declaring the order \u201cnot negotiable.\u201d He warned that any failure to comply would not be tolerated.<\/p>\n
\u201cNSA take this very seriously,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The President also urged the Vice President Kashim Shettima, who is the Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC), to further sensitise governors and other stakeholders on the implementation of the reforms on ranching.<\/p>\n Speaking at the opening of the week\u2019s meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the State House Council Chamber, Tinubu instructed all ministers to comply immediately or seek special clearance from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). He told those with security-sensitive assignments to meet the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and obtain his authorisation.<\/p>\n The president formally tasked the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) \u2014 under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior \u2014 with taking over protection duties formerly shouldered by police.<\/p>\n According to him, the move aims to allow the police to focus on their core mandate: protecting the lives and property of citizens, especially vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n \u201cPolice officers were trained to protect citizens \u2014 particularly the most vulnerable,\u201d Tinubu said. He argued that diverting them to guard a select few undermines public security, especially amid rising threats of kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism.<\/p>\n To enforce compliance, the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, has already withdrawn approximately 11,566 officers from VIP protection duties and redeployed them to frontline policing roles across the country.<\/p>\n A special enforcement team has been constituted to monitor adherence. In Lagos, the team checked strategic locations \u2014 including the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge and a major airport \u2014 and reported \u201csatisfactory and commendable\u201d compliance with no records of police still escorting VIPs.<\/p>\n Acknowledging that some public officeholders may remain vulnerable, Tinubu said exceptional arrangements could be made \u2014 but only under strict clearance. The NSCDC, he noted, is sufficiently armed and trained to carry out VIP protection.<\/p>\n Beyond policing reforms, the president also urged cabinet colleagues to begin implementing a broader security and livestock-ranching reform agenda \u2014 aimed at preventing conflicts between herders and farmers and reducing vulnerability of at-risk communities across rural Nigeria.<\/p>\n Analysts say the shift marks a major reorientation of security resources in favour of broader public-safety aims, rather than selective VIP protection.<\/p>\n Redeploying over 11,000 officers could improve policing coverage in underserved areas, if effectively managed.<\/p>\n The use of civil-defence personnel for VIP protection reduces the burden on the police \u2014 though some critics caution the change may be largely symbolic and question whether NSCDC has sufficient training or capacity for protection duties.<\/p>\n The reforms come amid intensifying security threats in Nigeria \u2014 including kidnapping, banditry, and communal violence \u2014 underscoring the urgency of optimizing security deployment.<\/p>\n On ranching, President Tinubu directed the Livestock Development Minister, Idi Muktar Maiha, to commence the mobilisation process, with particular emphasis on areas facing conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Minister of Livestock, see which village or grazing area can be rehabilitated for ranching. We must eliminate this area of conflict and make the livestock reform economically viable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe opportunity is there, let\u2019s utilise it. You should emphasise the constitutional requirement that the land belongs to the state,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Recall that following the announcement of the policy nearly two weeks it drew applause and knocks.<\/p>\n COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding’s Executive Director, Saviour Akpan, described Tinubu\u2019s move as \u201cnecessary and courageous.\u201d He argued that police protection for VIPs often served as a status symbol rather than a genuine security need, and that freed-up officers should be redeployed for public-safety duties.<\/p>\n The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) represented by Okechukwu Nwanguma welcomed the withdrawal, saying it addressed a misallocation of police resources. Nwanguma argued that the real security problem in Nigeria is not simply lack of manpower \u2014 but poor deployment and skewed priorities.<\/p>\n Senator Ali Ndume, supported the reform, noting that some officials have police escorts not just for themselves but for spouses and children \u2014 an excessive deployment. He urged that policing focus return to protecting communities, not individuals.<\/p>\n Alkali Baba, a former Inspector-General of Police praised the decision, noting it might be the first time a sitting president is ordering such a reform directly \u2014 a break from prior piecemeal or vacillating approaches. He said Nigeria\u2019s security architecture needs a \u201cre-jig,\u201d and that reducing over-militarisation in civilian life is important for democratic governance.<\/p>\n However, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) through its spokesperson Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, dismissed the withdrawal as \u201cpolitical theatre.\u201d ADC argued the move fails to address the root causes of Nigeria\u2019s insecurity, such as terrorism, banditry, and mass abductions. It warned that simply moving officers from VIP protection to \u201ccore policing\u201d does little if there is no overarching, coherent security strategy.<\/p>\n The ADC also questioned the substitution of police with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for VIP protection \u2014 describing the agency as ill-equipped for counter-terrorism or high-risk protection duties. According to them, replacing police with civil-defence personnel may not meaningfully improve security.<\/p>\n Denge Josef Onoh, a former state lawmaker from Enugu publicly urged reconsideration of the decision. He warned that removing police protection from VIPs \u2014 especially in a climate of widespread kidnappings and criminal violence \u2014 might endanger public officials, bureaucrats, or other high-profile individuals and turn them into easy targets.<\/p>\n Abutu Yaro (retired Assistant Inspector General of Police) advised that the withdrawal needs to be handled with \u201cserious caution.\u201d He pointed to historical precedents where public figures lost their lives after being left without protection, arguing the reform could have \u201cregrettable\u201d consequences if implemented hastily. Channels Television<\/p>\n Some security analysts have cautioned that even though more than 11,000 officers have been recalled (per Nigeria Police Force \u2014 NPF), the gains may be limited if there is no accompanying improvement in training, logistics and overall strategy to tackle terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.<\/p>\n Civil-society voices argue the reform must be accompanied by a holistic restructuring \u2014 including welfare for police officers, better intelligence and community policing \u2014 if it is to genuinely improve national security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday restated his government\u2019s directive to withdraw police officers assigned to protect VIPs, ministers, and other high-profile figures, declaring the order \u201cnot negotiable.\u201d He warned that any failure to comply would not be tolerated. \u201cNSA take this very seriously,\u201d he added. The President also urged the Vice President Kashim Shettima, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":93463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[7657,234,3216,56,7656],"class_list":["post-96536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-compliance","tag-police","tag-shettima","tag-tinubu","tag-vip-ribadu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image3-1-300x207.jpeg\")
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