Photo File: President Bola Tinubu.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the withdrawal of about 100,000 police officers currently deployed as escorts to Very Important Persons and politicians, directing that they be reassigned to frontline policing and counter-insurgency operations across the country.

The directive was issued at a high-level security meeting held on Sunday in Abuja and attended by service chiefs and the director-general of the Department of State Services. The President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the development in a statement.

According to him, VIPs who require personal protection will now be assigned operatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps rather than the police. Onanuga said the move is part of a broader push to address Nigeria’s worsening security challenges and strengthen police presence in communities nationwide.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the withdrawal of police officers currently providing security for Very Important Persons in the country,” he said. “Henceforth, police authorities will deploy them to concentrate on their core police duties. In view of the current security challenges facing the country, President Tinubu is desirous of boosting police presence in all communities.”

Nigeria currently has an estimated 371,800 police personnel serving a population of more than 236 million. A November 2025 report by the European Union Agency for Asylum noted that policing shortages have been aggravated by the diversion of thousands of officers to VIP protection, leaving many communities with minimal security presence.

The report stated, “Many parts of Nigeria, especially remote areas, have few policemen at the stations, thus making the task of protecting and defending the people difficult.”

Despite multiple assurances by past Inspectors-General of Police to reduce the number of personnel attached to VIPs, the restructuring has never fully materialised.

Onanuga also announced that the President has approved the recruitment of 30,000 additional police personnel, while the Federal Government is partnering with state governments to upgrade police training institutions nationwide.

The Abuja security meeting was attended by top commanders, including the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Waidi Shaibu; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; and Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Adeola Ajayi.

Meanwhile, amid reports that troops guarding St Mary Private Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State, were withdrawn shortly before the recent mass abduction there, the Defence Headquarters said it has begun reviewing the circumstances surrounding the redeployment.