Nigeria Police Threatens To Sanction Officers Escorting VIPs In Mufti
The Nigeria Police Force has strongly warned its officers against escorting Very Important Persons (VIPs) by using mufti dress as a cover.
In a wireless message from the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Protection, Force Headquarters, Abuja (AIG PROTECT FHQ), to all Police Protection Units across the country, the force described the act as a violation of standing orders.
The signal, referenced CB: 4001/DOPS/SPU/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.20, reiterated an earlier order from the Inspector General of Police, directing the withdrawal of personnel from unauthorised VIP escorts and banning officers from performing such duties in plain clothes.
According to the message, the Police High Command expressed concern that despite repeated instructions, some officers continue to follow VIPs in mufti, contravening the operational guidelines of the Special Protection Unit (SPU).
“It has been observed that men still follow VIPs in mufti in disregard to this order. Officers and men are to desist henceforth as anybody caught will be dealt with accordingly,” the directive stated.
The signal was copied to key police formations nationwide, including commands in Kano, Lagos, Yola, Makurdi, Benin, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Sokoto, Bauchi, Abeokuta, Akure, Awka, Enugu, Ibadan, Minna, Calabar, Asaba, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Owerri, and Kaduna, among others.
Units were instructed to acknowledge receipt and treat the order as urgent and important.
On November 23, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed that police officers assigned to provide security for VIPs across the country be withdrawn from such duties and redeployed to focus on their core policing responsibilities.
The presidential directive was issued during a security meeting on Sunday in Abuja, which brought together top officials, including the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Waidi Shaibu; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Tosin Adeola Ajayi.
Under the new arrangement, VIPs seeking protection will now be required to request well-armed personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).