The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has disclosed that the ongoing withdrawal of police officers from Very Important Persons (VIPs) protection details is a tactical and nationwide manpower rediscovery intended to reinforce frontline policing, reclaim highways, and protect vulnerable communities battered by banditry.
Speaking at a senior police commanders’ meeting in Abuja, Egbetokun insisted the shake-up was a cold realignment, not sentiment, powered by the urgent need to shift manpower to Nigeria’s most volatile rural and township corridors, where kidnappers have recently dictated movements and instilled panic.
“In line with the President’s directive, we have withdrawn a total of 11,566 personnel from VIP protection,” Egbetokun said, confirming the officers were being redeployed with immediate effect.
“The withdrawal is not a retreat from responsibility, but a reclamation of it,” he added.
The IGP explained that the redeployment was designed to expand police presence in rural roads, township perimeters, motor parks, markets, and community travel corridors, highlighting the need for intensified patrols and rapid response structures before criminals strike again.
Strategic Recall To Dominate Festive Roads
Egbetokun further revealed that the decision was influenced by the recent abduction waves linking Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger states, incidents that, although met with swift responses, exposed manpower constraints and left citizens asking whether the police still dominate the roads.
“We may not be doing enough, but it is not that we are not working. We are actually doing something. But as leaders, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard,” he said.
With the yuletide travel rush looming, he mandated that every state command must activate enhanced festive deployment, ordering commands to decisively occupy national highways and community exit/entry chokepoints.
“As we approach the festive season, the nation will witness its highest annual travel activity. Citizens returning home to celebrate with family and communities, criminals will seek to exploit the roads,” the IGP warned.
“Therefore, the roads must be decisively dominated by proactive policing and preparedness.”
The directive includes expanded highway patrol squads, reinforced foot patrols at motor parks, anti-robbery dragnets on high-traffic corridors, drone surveillance, and intelligence-backed rural corridor protection, complemented with community-policing visibility frameworks.
Egbetokun said the police have landed multiple tactical outcomes in recent weeks, with 8,202 suspects arrested across formations for offences including 451 armed robbery suspects, 356 kidnapping suspects, 534 murder suspects, 173 for unlawful firearm possession, 312 suspected rapists, 282 cultists, and 6,094 others for serious crimes.
He also confirmed the recovery of 249 firearms, nearly 21,000 rounds of ammunition, and 238 vehicles, alongside the rescue of 232 kidnap victims, stressing that intelligence will be scaled up operationally instead of being applauded ceremonially.
The IGP said every command must now “employ the use of artificial intelligence in policing strategies, including drones and other technical assets,” insisting commands must log operational hours and presence metrics as performance indicators for December deployments.
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