Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of police (IGP), says the presidential order to strip very important persons (VIPs) of police escorts has revealed the actual number of officers diverted from core policing duties.
On Sunday, President Bola Tinubu directed the immediate withdrawal of police personnel assigned to political office holders and influential individuals across the country.
The presidency said the move is part of a broader national security plan aimed at improving police efficiency and reinforcing public safety.
Speaking on Thursday at a meeting with police strategic commanders in Abuja, the IGP said misleading claims circulating online forced him to clarify the scale of officers attached to private citizens.
He said some social media users have been “brandishing” false figures regarding the deployment of personnel.
“We have already withdrawn 11,566 personnel, we have given directions for that. I have seen some things posted on the social media misleading,” the IGP said.
“People are quoting figures, figures I don’t know where they got their figures from, where they said that 120,000 policemen are attached to private individuals in Nigeria. These are lies.”
The IGP said the presidential directive prompted a fresh audit that revealed 11,566 officers are currently assigned to VIP protection duties.
He added that the force had earlier attempted to reduce the number of officers guarding individuals, but the efforts were resisted.
“Recently, I gave instruction that policemen should be withdrawn from private individuals, and those private individuals desirous of police protection should reapply,” he said.
“We saw the need to profile these individuals that are applying for police protection, and we carried out that exercise.”
Egbetokun said many of the officers recalled during that process had not yet been reassigned before Tinubu issued the latest order.
‘NO GOVERNOR WILL PRESSURE ME AGAIN’
He said the presidential directive removes the political and personal pressures often placed on the force whenever attempts are made to limit VIP security.
“In fact, the presidential order is a cover for us to implement this directive that we have been trying to implement all this while,” he said.
Egbetokun added that “no governor, minister or associate would be able to lobby for special protection” after the president’s decision.
He said the new policy allows the police to redeploy personnel to frontline duties where manpower shortages have been a recurring concern.
“Now that we have surplus of 11,566 that are coming, we are deploying, redeploying to core policing functions,” he said.
The IGP said the welfare of officers transferred to rural or difficult terrains would be prioritised.
“Anyone we are sending to the rural communities, to these remote communities, their welfare will be taken care of; that I can assure you,” he said.
On Wednesday, Idris Wase, former deputy speaker of the house of representatives, asked Tinubu to reconsider the directive to withdraw police officers attached to the VIPs.
He said lawmakers from the north-central zone are facing the worst insecurity, adding that travelling by road is no longer safe for public officials
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