POlice Escorts opening door for a VIP while others keep vigil. But now, the table has turned, thus forcing VIPs to go int hiding since the withdrawal of police officers attached to them for security.
Following the real withdrawal of Police orderlies and security attachees to Very Important Persons (VIPs) across the nation on the orders of the presidency, findings have shown that many of the VIPs whose Police guards have been withdrawn are currently hiding away from public movements and gatherings across the country.
Business Hilights recalls that further to President Bola Tinubu’s order, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, immediately withdrawn all police personnel from VIPs as a strategic realignment aimed at boosting frontline policing and protecting vulnerable communities across the country.
Egbetokun, who made this announcement while addressing journalists in Abuja at a meeting with senior police commanders, said the decision to recall officers from VIP security duties was not borne out of sentiment but by the urgent need to channel manpower to areas where public safety demands are highest.
Checks in some public gatherings show that Nigerians who usually attend public events with Police escorts are no more attending events due to the withdrawal of their securities. Even some top government officials and businessmen previously with police escorts are yet to move around or even go to their respective offices without police since the order was given.
Analysts say though the government has directed that those in need of personal guards can now get them from the services of the Nigerian Civil Defense, it is not yet clear if the security outfit clearly has the capacity to pull out about 11,566 personnel to replace those Police officers already withdrawn.
With this hiding playing out, indications are rife that many occasions this yuletide season may not be colourful as before because several high caliber invitees whose their police have been withdrawn may not attend, thus creating some levels of disappointments for event organizers.
According to the police boss, the move flows with the core mandate of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which is the protection of citizens, communities, and public order, adding that a total of 11,566 personnel withdrawn from VIP duties had been redeployed.
The IGP further explained that the withdrawal would enable the police to expand manpower deployment for rural and township security, large-scale population protection, intensified patrols, intelligence-led operations, and rapid response to emerging threats.
“In line with the President’s directive, we have withdrawn a total of 11,566 personnel from VIP protection. These officers are being redeployed to critical policing duties immediately,” he said.
He warned that the implementation of the VIP withdrawal directive would be carefully managed to prevent misinformation, impersonation, or exploitation by criminal elements.
Detailed guidelines, he said, would be released soon.
“The withdrawal is not a retreat from responsibility, but a reclamation of it,” Egbetokun added.
He noted that recent security incidents—including abductions in Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger states—have reinforced the need to reposition the force and strengthen visibility and deterrence across the country.
Egbetokun said that although security agencies responded swiftly to the attacks, the incidents created the impression in some quarters that the police were not doing enough.
“We may not be doing enough, but it is not that we are not working. We are actually doing something. But as leaders, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard,” he said.
The IGP disclosed that the force had achieved notable operational successes in recent weeks, including the arrest of 8,202 suspects for various offences and the rescue of 232 kidnapped victims.
He added, “The Nigerian Police Force has achieved multiple operational outcomes across strategic formations and tactical response structures, including 451 armed robbery suspects, 356 kidnapping suspects, 534 murder suspects, 129 culpable homicide suspects, 173 persons for unlawful possession of firearms, 312 suspected rapists, and 282 suspected cultists. In addition, 6,094 other suspects were arrested for various serious offences.”
He also listed the recovery of 249 firearms, nearly 21,000 rounds of ammunition, and 238 vehicles.
Egbetokun said the police were adopting stronger intelligence frameworks, deeper community engagement, and enhanced inter-agency collaboration to outmanoeuvre criminals.
With the festive season approaching, he directed all state commands to activate enhanced patrols, highway visibility operations, and community-focused policing strategies, including the deployment of drones and AI-driven surveillance tools.
“As we approach the festive season, the nation will witness its highest annual travel activity. Citizens returning home to celebrate with family and communities, criminals will seek to exploit the roads.
“Therefore, the roads must be decisively dominated by proactive policing and preparedness. I hereby charge each state command to activate festive deployment and operational plans.
“This will include expanded highway patrol teams, reinforced foot patrol units at motor parks, anti-robbery dragnet patrols on high-traffic roads, intelligence-backed vehicular patrols for rural corridors, and inter-service collaboration patrols to guarantee route safety across all national highways. It will also cover township entry and exit points, market transit routes, and community travel corridors.
“Employ the use of artificial intelligence in policing strategies, including drones and other technical assets. Every command must track operational hours and presence metrics as performance indicators for the December deployment,” Egbetokun said.
