Police deploy special team to enforce ban on VIP escorts

The Police special enforcement team in Lagos over the weekend. Photo: X/Nigeria Police Force

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The Nigeria Police Force has deployed a Special Enforcement Team to ensure full compliance with President Bola Tinubu’s directive prohibiting the use of police personnel for Very Important Persons’ escort and guard duties.

In a statement released on Saturday via the Force’s X handle, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the team commenced a statewide monitoring operation in Lagos on December 6, 2025, beginning at about 10:00 am.

He disclosed that the exercise covered key locations, including the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, and other strategic points across the state.

Hundeyin said the monitoring revealed “satisfactory and commendable” adherence to the presidential order, noting that no cases of unauthorised police escort deployment were observed and no arrests were made.

The statement added, “The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, reiterates the Force’s commitment to the full implementation of the presidential directive. The Nigeria Police Force remains resolute in redeploying its personnel to core policing duties aimed at enhancing general security, crime prevention, and the protection of lives and property across the country.”

Hundeyin assured the public that the implementation of the policy would continue nationwide “without fear or favour,” and urged citizens to support efforts to build a more efficient, professional, and people-centered policing system.

PUNCH Online had reported that President Tinubu ordered that all police officers assigned to provide personal security to VIPs be withdrawn and redeployed to core policing duties.

The President issued the directive during a security meeting held on November 23 in Abuja with service chiefs and the Director-General of the Department of State Services.

According to a statement released by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, VIPs requiring protection will now be assigned armed operatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps instead of the police.

The statement added that the aim of the policy is to free up police manpower for frontline duties, particularly in underserved communities, and to strengthen the country’s overall national security response.

Olugbenga is a fine-grained journalist with over nine years of experience. He loves the smell of a good lead and has a penchant for finding out interesting good reports.

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