The Presidency has issued a plea to Nigerians, asking them to actively participate in monitoring compliance with President Bola Tinubu’s recent directive to withdraw police escorts from Very Important Persons (VIPs).
The appeal was launched by Daniel Bwala, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, during a televised interview on TVC on Sunday.
He underscored the administration’s resolve to strictly enforce the order and implored citizens to document any instances of non-compliance.
Bwala specifically urged the public to gather evidence of any violations:
“If you identify a celebrity, a private sector person, or any individual who has police against the executive order of the president, as much as you can, capture evidence, whether a photograph or video,”
The Special Adviser clarified that the withdrawal measure is not universally applied to all government officials. He noted that certain “critical people in government” will retain a form of state security.
Bwala further explained that other security organizations are authorized to step in and provide necessary protection. These include the State Security Service (SSS) and the Civil Defence, which would assume duties currently performed by the police in these roles.
“It could be SSS, Civil Defence, and not the police who will be there to help you. But police have no business being with you,” he stated.
This directive is part of the administration’s broader strategy to rationalize the deployment of police resources, ensuring the force prioritizes its core mandate of public safety and core policing duties over personalized VIP protection.
The order instructs that these officers be redeployed back into standard police operations across the country.
