By Obinna Uballa
More than 100,000 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) are currently assigned to politicians and other VIPs, leaving many communities without adequate security, a new report by the European Union Agency for Asylum has revealed.
The report, published in November 2025, estimated the strength of the NPF at 371,800 officers serving a population of about 236.7 million people. It said the country’s policing shortfall is being worsened by the diversion of a large segment of officers to private protection rather than public safety duties.
“More than 100,000 police officers were assigned to the protection of politicians and VIPs, rather than to tasks serving the general population,” the report stated.
It added that limited manpower, corruption, and insufficient operational resources have resulted in delayed responses to emergencies and left numerous communities without visible police presence.
“With reliable accountability mechanisms lacking, there were reports of police officers engaging in misconduct, including arbitrary arrests, extortion of money and excessive use of violence,” the EU agency noted.
Repeated attempts at reform have not halted the trend. In June 2023, and again in April 2025, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, ordered the withdrawal of Police Mobile Force operatives from VIP duty, directing that the tactical unit be reserved for national security operations. However, the report shows that VIP assignments still account for a significant portion of police deployment.
In August, Hadiza Bala-Usman, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy and Coordination, criticised the practice and called for a review of the Police Act to allow private security firms to take over VIP protection.
“We cannot continue to deploy police trained for anti-terrorism operations just to guard individuals,” she said. “If anyone feels too important and wants heavily armed protection, they should hire private security, not take officers away from the public.”
Efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, for comment were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
