The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has warned that any police officer found providing escort or protection for Very Important Persons (VIPs) will be arrested, describing such assignments as “illegal duty” under the current directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.

Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, issued the warning on Tuesday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

Hundeyin stressed that the enforcement operation is fully underway, emphasising that all officers attached to VIP protection duties have been withdrawn.

“The enforcement is on. The IGP gave the directive that any police officer found escorting VIPs be arrested because, definitely, he is on illegal duty. Every one of them has been recalled,” the Force spokesman said on the current affairs show.

The police PRO stated that the IGP had issued strict orders to senior police commanders to withdraw all officers previously assigned to VIPs.

Quoting the IGP’s instruction, Hundeyin said, “The IGP ordered the AIG SPU [Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Special Protection Unit] to go to the Abuja airport and station his men there and arrest any police officer found escorting VIPs.”

“He gave the same order to the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State to go to the Lagos airport and arrest any police officer escorting VIPs. That’s how seriously we take this,” he added.

The police PRO also said President Bola Tinubu’s order is absolute and not based on “the highest bidder.”

Tinubu’s order to withdraw police escorts from VIPs is to redeploy personnel to core policing duties amid rising insecurity nationwide.

The directive was delivered during a security briefing with the nation’s service chiefs.

According to the President, any VIP who requires official security will now have to obtain “well-armed personnel” from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, who announced the new policy, explained that the change is intended to redirect police resources toward essential law enforcement functions, particularly in remote areas where police presence is still insufficient.

Amid a surge in kidnappings and terrorist activities, President Tinubu also declared a nationwide state of security emergency.

“With this declaration, the police and the military are authorised to expand their recruitment. The police will bring in an additional 20,000 officers, raising the total to 50,000,” Tinubu said in a statement he personally endorsed.

He added that both the new recruits and officers reassigned from VIP duties will receive accelerated training at upgraded police institutions and selected NYSC camps to prepare them for deployment to high-risk zones.