More than 100,000 officers of the Nigeria Police Force are currently deployed to protect politicians and other Very Important Persons (VIPs), leaving ordinary citizens exposed to rising insecurity across the country, a new report has revealed.
The report, published in November 2025 by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), stated that Nigeria’s policing capacity remains dangerously stretched, with an estimated 371,800 officers serving a population of over 236 million people.
According to the document, a significant portion of the available personnel is diverted to VIP protection duties rather than community policing and crime prevention, creating severe gaps in public safety.
“More than 100,000 police officers were assigned to the protection of politicians and VIPs, rather than to tasks serving the general population,” the EUAA noted.
The report warned that this imbalance, coupled with corruption and poor funding, has resulted in slow emergency response times and left several communities with little or no police presence.
“This shortage in manpower, as well as corruption and insufficient resources, has resulted in delayed responses to crimes and numerous communities being left without protection,” it added.
It also highlighted the absence of effective accountability systems, which has fueled unprofessional behavior among some officers, including arbitrary arrests, extortion, and excessive use of force.
Efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, for comments were unsuccessful as calls and messages sent to him were not responded to at the time of filing this report.
Despite previous directives from the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to withdraw Police Mobile Force (PMF) operatives from VIP assignments in 2023 and again in April 2025, the practice appears to have persisted.
In August, Hadiza Bala-Usman, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy and Coordination and Head of the Central Delivery Coordination Unit, condemned the continued use of police officers as personal bodyguards.
“One of the most disturbing things for me is when VIPs arrive somewhere with so many policemen trailing them, while the areas that actually need security are left unattended,” she said.
“We cannot continue to deploy police trained for anti-terrorism operations just to guard individuals in Ikoyi. Whoever feels too important and wants machine gun-wielding personnel protecting him should go and hire a private security company.”
She further urged a review of the Police Act to allow private security firms to take on duties currently handled by police officers, freeing up the force to focus on national security priorities.
“We must free our security agencies to do what they need to do. That Act needs to be amended,” she insisted.
The revelation adds to growing concern over the country’s policing deficit, as crime rates and insecurity continue to surge across several states despite the presence of a large police workforce.
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