The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has redeployed 11,566 police personnel previously attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs) to underserved and hard‑to‑reach communities across Nigeria, in a sweeping move aimed at strengthening grassroots security.
The redeployment follows President Bola Tinubu’s recent directive ordering the withdrawal of police escorts from politicians, businessmen, and other VIPs so that officers can return to “core policing duties” in communities struggling with banditry, kidnapping, and communal violence. Under the new arrangement, VIPs who still require close protection are to rely on the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which will now be responsible for providing armed guards for high‑profile individuals and critical infrastructure.
According to details released by police and presidency sources, the 11,566 officers are being posted to rural and peri‑urban areas where police presence has been historically thin, limiting response time to attacks and undermining public confidence in law enforcement.
A senior police official explained that priority is being given to communities along known kidnapping corridors, border villages, and flashpoints of herder‑farmer conflict.The redeployment is part of a broader security plan that includes the recruitment of an additional 30,000 police personnel and the upgrading of training facilities in collaboration with state governments. The Presidency maintains that the shift will “boost police presence in all communities” and help restore trust in the security agencies’ capacity to protect ordinary citizens, not just the political and economic elite.
Security analysts and civil society groups have welcomed the policy in principle but stress that its impact will depend on proper supervision, adequate welfare and equipment for officers, and strict enforcement to prevent VIPs from quietly reclaiming police escorts over time. For many residents of underserved communities, the success of the redeployment will be measured in fewer attacks, faster response to distress calls, and a visible return of uniformed officers to streets that have long been left unpoliced.
