A new foreign assessment has renewed calls for Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to end the longstanding practice of deploying substantial numbers of Nigeria Police Force personnel to protect Very Important Persons (VIPs) instead of the general public.
According to a report by the European Union Agency for Asylum, tens of thousands of police officers are attached to VIPs — including politicians, wealthy individuals, and even alleged fr@udsters — leaving communities across the country exposed amid rising insecurity.
The report revealed that with an estimated 371,800 officers serving a population of about 236 million people, Nigeria’s police-to-citizen ratio stands at 1 officer to 637 citizens, far below the United Nations’ recommended ratio of 1 to 450. Over 100,000 officers are reportedly assigned to VIP protection instead of core policing duties.
Past attempts to reverse the trend have failed. In 2015, former President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the withdrawal of officers from unauthorised VIPs, but enforcement faltered. Similar directives by successive Inspectors-General were either inconsistent or later reversed, allowing the practice to persist.
Many politicians who left public office years ago still retain police escorts, while ordinary Nigerians face increasing cases of abductions, robberies, and violence.
A 2023 report by Save the Children noted that over 1,680 schoolchildren were abducted across the country. The Missing Persons Platform stated that more than half of Africa’s missing persons in 2024 were Nigerians, while the Red Cross lists 23,659 Nigerians still missing.
The report further indicated that VIP protection has become monetised, with officers serving as paid escorts for wealthy individuals, leaving policing gaps that are increasingly being filled by the military.
Security analysts argue that Inspector-General Egbetokun must strictly enforce his 2023 and 2025 directives on the redeployment of officers to frontline policing, accompanied by retraining and a comprehensive review of the Police Act.
Experts warn that restoring public confidence, strengthening internal security, and reducing Nigeria’s growing vulnerability will require prioritising citizens over VIPs and ending the decades-old culture of elite-centric policing.
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