President Bola Tinubu has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 100,000 police officers from VIP protection duties to more effectively confront the country’s escalating abduction crisis.
In a high-stakes security meeting convened in Abuja with service chiefs and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Tinubu directed that these personnel be redeployed to core policing roles, including counter-insurgency and community protection.
According to his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the move reflects a broader shift: VIPs who require protection will now rely on well-armed personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) rather than the police.
Tinubu also greenlit the recruitment of 30,000 new police officers, part of an effort to boost manpower and strengthen security presence in underserved communities.
The statement from his office stressed that many remote areas are severely understaffed, and reassigning officers from VIP duties will help redistribute resources more equitably.
At the meeting, the attendees included heavyweights: Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Waidi Shaibu; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun; and the DSS Director-General Tosin Ajayi.
The redeployment signals a strategic pivot in Nigeria’s security policy — prioritising grassroots policing and more visible law enforcement presence on the ground, especially in places most vulnerable to kidnappings and violent crime.
