After this week’s presidential decision to remove police escorts from very important people, there has been a rise in demand for the services of private security companies and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
According to The Nation, President Bola Tinubu gave the order on Sunday as part of a larger push to increase police presence in areas where security is currently seen as lacking.
On Thursday, Police Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun revealed that 11,566 of these police escorts have already been called back.
Our reporters around the country have found that the VIPs who were affected are now hiring private security companies and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to safeguard themselves and their families.
The NSCDC, which has roughly 60,000 members right now, is responsible for protecting lives, protecting important national assets and infrastructure, stopping crimes, and helping civil authorities in times of disaster.
Yesterday, at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) national headquarters in Abuja, it was learned that worried VIPs were calling and making other discreet inquiries to senior officers about getting more armed NSCDC personnel to serve as their escorts.
“As of now, they have begun to ask for NSCDC personnel, but we don’t have enough people to service these elites. We just hired 5,000 people, and now we’re going to hire 10,000 more. But keep in mind that the less than 100,000 people we have are spread out over the country because of problems with mining, pipeline safety, and other things.
An NSCDC insider said, “And for special duties like the 2025 Abuja Independence Day celebration, about 4,500 were sent out. Events like the 2025 Anambra governorship election alone need 10,000 people.”
A source from the organization said yesterday in Enugu that there has been a huge increase in requests for their staff’s assistance in the last few days.
In addition to what the federal government is doing, states and localities have also been taking action.
The State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps, can hire 500 people, according to Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
This comes after a conference of Southern governors at Iperu-Remo, Ogun State, on Wednesday, where they said that state police is necessary if Nigeria wants to deal with banditry efficiently.
President Tinubu proclaimed a national security emergency and supported the creation of state police on the same day.
Minister said NSCDC will figure out how to do it.
Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of the Interior, stated in Abuja on Thursday that the ministry will do its best to improve security in Nigeria after giving the order to the para-military institutions under it.
Tunji-Ojo visited the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) training facilities in Abuja Command at Wuse and the Federal Fire Service Headquarters for Abuja Command. He assured that President Tinubu’s orders would be followed exactly.
The minister claimed that the Ministry’s para-military forces have the skills and resources to make the country’s security better.
According to insiders at the NSCDC headquarters, the agency was waiting for more orders from higher-ups after the president told them to pull police officers away from VIPs in the country.
A source who didn’t want to be named stated that the NSCDC has the skills and resources to help, especially right now, but that the specifics still need to be worked out.
Mr. Jerry Victor, a spokesman for NSCDC in Nasarawa State, told our reporter that the command had received several applications for security personnel since the president’s order.
“The command is getting a lot of requests from VIPs for our staff to be sent to them, some even to their homes. “Every day, people call us and ask for our services,” he stated.
A source in a private security company in the state said, “Yes, there is a lot of demand for our services.”
But the insider added that the company doesn’t have enough staff right now to meet demand.
Former and current lawmakers in Nasarawa State no longer receive police escorts.
The only important politician in the state who still has police escorts is APC governorship candidate Mohammed Adamu. This is because he used to be the Inspector General of Police.
A former federal legislator in the state claimed he hasn’t left his Abuja home since his police escort was taken away, and he won’t until he finds a way to pay for private security.
The politician who doesn’t want his name in print said, “I can’t go out like that.”
“I can’t even give it a shot.” I have called off all of my meetings and political events until my new security plan is in place.
“I have asked the Nasarawa State Command of the NSCDC and a private security company in Lafia to send some guards to my house in Lafia.
“It’s not easy for someone like me to go out without security, but I think the president’s order makes sense given the overall security situation in the country.” I fully support it since it is good for the whole country.
Across Enugu yesterday, it was clear that a lot of people who were affected by the withdrawal had rapidly hired armed operatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and officers from the Nigerian Correctional Service (Prisons) to cover the gap left by the police.
A top political adviser who wanted to remain anonymous informed our reporter that the hasty pullout had put numerous VIPs in danger.
“Most of my principals don’t have police escorts anymore. Now, they are depending on Civil Defence and even Correctional Service workers. “These agencies let people hire armed guards legally, so that’s what a lot of people are doing now,” he said.
Senator Ndume supports Tinubu’s call to pull police officers from VIPs and wants the National Assembly to stay open.
Senator Ali Ndume (APC–Borno South), who used to be the head of the Senate, supports President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s order to remove police officers from Very Important Persons (VIPs). He says that this rule should also apply to members of the National Assembly.
On Thursday night, Ndume told Channels Television that the number of police officers now stationed in the National Assembly was too high and unnecessary, especially since the country is dealing with increased crime.
He called the tendency of VIPs getting police protection for themselves, their families, and their children “insulting.”
“I thought there wouldn’t be as many police in the National Assembly today, but there are still a lot of them,” he said.
“Some of our coworkers, including some clergymen, have police officers who are married to them. What do they have to do with that? They have police officers with their kids.
The senator remembered times when the children of famous people traveled in convoys through Abuja, while regular Nigerians had no security from violent acts.
Ndume told the story of how he once went to the home of a junior colleague and met more than 10 police officers who were assigned to him. He said that the situation had gotten so bad that some MPs now travel with security that looks like presidential convoys.
The senator said that if security in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were better, VIPs like President Tinubu wouldn’t need big convoys.
“Make Abuja safe, and the president can even drive out himself,” he remarked.
“When you protect famous people and ignore regular people, you make the world less safe.” People in other nations can walk around at night without fear because their cities are safe.
When Ndume was told that the withdrawal order could also apply to him, he said that he only has one police orderly because he had turned down an earlier offer of three policemen.
“One of the best security agencies thought my life was in danger and sent three police officers to protect me, but I said no. He claimed, “I insisted on having only an orderly,” adding that his choice was based more on accountability than safety.
Presidential order: “Our elites don’t deserve any pity.” — A former DMI officer
A former military officer who worked in the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), Captain Umar Babangida Aliyu (rtd), said that Nigerian elites who have been indifferent, not caring enough, and getting unfair benefits from security votes for a long time may have made Nigeria’s current security situation worse.
Aliyu, who now works as a security consultant and business risk expert, told our correspondent that the president’s decision has a lot of complicated effects on VIPs. However, he said that a strict implementation of the order with no room for shortcuts or illegal police duties will help Nigeria move forward in dealing with insecurity more seriously.
Captain U. B. Aliyu (rtd), a member of the 40th Nigerian Army Regular Course, which has produced service chiefs and a National Security Adviser, said that Nigeria’s VIPs should not be pitied since their police escorts are no longer with them.
Aliyu said, “Honestly, I don’t feel sorry for them.” Politicians and others are victims of their own stupidity. They have traveled a lot, some even have homes and citizenship in other countries. They know how safe things are in other countries, but they come back home and do nothing to copy the good things they see and do abroad.
“Let them enjoy the new normal. Hopefully, it will change their priorities when it comes to safety and danger in Nigeria. Even when the police were doing their jobs, they weren’t very good at it. We have witnessed VIPs attacked even when they were being protected by cops.
Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police, told reporters in Abuja yesterday that the recall of police officers from VIP duties was not political or punitive. Instead, it was meant to refocus police efforts and resources on important areas like intelligence-led operations and quick response capabilities in both rural and urban areas, which worried elites.
Police deny memo on “withdrawal of officers” from Atiku and Wike
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) confirmed yesterday that they have not pulled officers from some high-profile people, even though there was a report that they had.
The report said that the Mobile Force, 50 Squadron in Kubwa, Abuja, told people who were working for VIPs like former Vice Presidents Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo, Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); former First Lady Aisha Buhari; Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN); and Ogiame Atuwatse III, Olu of Warri, to return to base by Thursday, November 27.
According to the allegation, a note that was supposedly signed by CSP Suleiman Abdullahi, the administrative officer of 50PMF Kubwa, said that officers assigned to 20 VIPs should return to base and that attendance would be deducted off the nominal list.
It further said that officers who were assigned to VIPs at SPU Base 16 in Lagos were supposed to be back by the end of business on November 24 and attend a lecture parade the next day.
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