President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered that police officers should no longer be assigned to protect Very Important Persons (VIPs) in Nigeria.
The announcement was made on Sunday by Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy.
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According to him, the police will now focus on their main job—protecting communities and fighting crime.
The decision was made during a security meeting held in Abuja. The meeting was attended by the heads of the police, army, air force, and the Department of State Services (DSS).
From now on, VIPs who need security will have to request armed guards from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), not the police.
Many rural areas in Nigeria do not have enough police officers, making it difficult to protect people. Because of this, President Tinubu has ordered that more police officers be deployed to all communities.
Onanuga also said the President has approved the recruitment of 30,000 new police officers. The federal government will also work with state governments to improve police training centres across the country.
Those at Sunday’s meeting included:
- Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Waidi Shaibu
- Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke
- Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun
- Director-General of DSS, Tosin Adeola Ajayi