The whole fabric of Nigeria’s policing system has obviously changed over the decades and become distorted by the concentration of officers around the country’s elite politicians, business moguls, high-ranking traditional rulers, celebrities, and even individuals with questionable influence. This long-standing culture has created an upside-down security structure where ordinary citizens bear the brunt of insecurity while thousands of officers are deployed as private bodyguards to protect the privileged few.
Very recently, a popular Lagos-based cleric was walking into an event center for a socialite’s party and was escorted by heavily armed policemen, like about five of them. Something ran through my mind, and I imagined the number of policemen that would be left in the ranks and files of the force to manage internal security if all VIPs had five policemen each.
The recent decision by the Nigerian government to withdraw police personnel from VIPs has therefore generated intense public debate. While some view it as a politically motivated move or an unrealistic reform, the policy is, in fact, long overdue. If executed sincerely, transparently, and consistently, it may be one of the most important security decisions Nigeria has taken in years.
Nigeria has one of the lowest police-to-citizen ratios in the world. With fewer than the recommended officers actively policing communities, the country is perpetually undersecured. Yet, a large percentage of the force is not available for real policing—they are attached to VIPs who enjoy 24/7 protection funded by taxpayers.
In some cases, a single individual moves with a convoy of officers at the expense of a town battling banditry or a community that hasn’t seen a patrol vehicle in months. This imbalance is indefensible.
The primary duty of the police is to protect the general population and maintain public order, not to serve as personal security personnel. The system where a few elites monopolize public security resources undermines equity and erodes trust in government institutions.
Withdrawing officers from VIPs is not an attack on wealth or status; it is a recalibration of priorities. A society cannot progress when the privileged barricade themselves behind state-funded guns while the masses navigate daily fear.
Now this is the point: many of the individuals enjoying state-funded protection are financially capable of hiring private security, which is standard practice in other countries. Private security companies in Nigeria are growing but have remained underutilized, partly because the state provides a cheaper alternative to those who can afford otherwise.
The government’s withdrawal policy is not a punishment—it is a nudge toward a more sustainable and fair security ecosystem.
However, the success of this policy depends on how it is implemented. Nigerians have seen reversals and compromises in the past. Some VIPs pressure the system to restore their security details through back channels, weakening the reform and exposing its political manipulation.
For this move to matter, it must apply to all VIPs, politicians, businessmen, connected socialites, and security insiders. Exceptions should only be granted based on credible threat assessments, not influence or favoritism.
I was at a popular phone market in the highbrow Victoria Island recently and saw a young boy wandering round the shops, obviously trying to get a gadget, and sighted a mobile policeman following him and holding his bag. I got curious and asked a phone repairer who that person was, and he said ‘ Yahoo Boy’.I took a deep breath, laughed, and in seconds, a scrunched look enveloped my face as I imagined how we got here as a nation,
Withdrawing officers is only half the job. The real test is whether they are redeployed to tackle armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, and urban insecurity. The reform should not create ghost officers or idle personnel. Communities must feel the difference.
No nation can thrive when security becomes a luxury. Nigerians deserve a police force that serves them not one that is hoarded by a few. Restoring officers to the streets, boosting community policing, and improving operational capacity will go much further in restoring public confidence than any political rhetoric.
The withdrawal of police from VIPs is not merely an administrative decision it is a test of political will. If sustained, it could help reset Nigeria’s distorted security priorities and signal a new era where public safety is treated as a right, not a privilege.
For once, the government must choose the people over the powerful.
