Tinubu Reorders Police Off VIPs, Tasks Shettima With Livestock Reform
President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday reiterated his directive to withdraw police officers from VIP protection duties and redeploy them to core law enforcement roles, expressing frustration over the slow implementation of the order.
Speaking before presiding over the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House in Abuja, Tinubu stated, “I honestly believe in what I said… It should be effected. If you have any problem because of the nature of your assignment, contact the IGP and get my clearance.”
He directed the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to work with the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to immediately replace the withdrawn police escorts with NSCDC personnel so that “you don’t leave people exposed.”
Tinubu also tasked the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Department of State Services to issue further guidelines and oversee compliance, saying, “NSA and DSS will provide further information and form themselves a committee and review the structure.”
Framing the move as a response to rising insecurity, the President explained, “We are facing challenges of kidnapping. We need all the forces we have on the ground, fully utilised.”
He added that while some officials remain vulnerable, civil defence personnel should step in where necessary.
Tinubu further disclosed plans to arm forest guards, stating, “I have directed the NSA to arm our forest guards, too. Take it seriously.”
On the broader effort to address farmer-herder conflicts, the President instructed Vice-President Kashim Shettima to work through the National Economic Council to identify and rehabilitate grazing reserves into ranches.
“We must eliminate the possibility of conflicts and turn the livestock reform into economically viable development,” Tinubu said. “The opportunity is there. Let’s utilise it.”
Wednesday’s directive follows a similar order issued nearly three weeks earlier, on November 23, after a security meeting prompted by the kidnapping of hundreds of people—mostly schoolchildren—across Kebbi, Kwara, and Niger States.
At that time, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced that police withdrawn from VIPs would be redeployed to patrols, investigations, and school protection, and that VIPs seeking protection would request armed personnel from the NSCDC.
The renewed push for compliance comes amid public criticism of excessive security entourages, including recent remarks by Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, who said he witnessed a security detail assigned to a young individual close to the presidency that was “sufficient to take over a small country.”
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