A new report by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has revealed that more than 100,000 officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) are currently deployed to protect politicians and other Very Important Persons (VIPs), raising concerns over inadequate security coverage for ordinary citizens across the country.
According to the EUAA report, published in November 2025, the Nigeria Police Force has an estimated strength of 371,800 officers serving a population of about 236.7 million people. The agency noted that this limited manpower is further strained by the diversion of a large portion of officers to VIP protection duties rather than community policing and crime prevention.
The report stated, “Both recent sources and sources dating back as far as 2007 claimed that the NPF had an estimated strength of 371,800, serving a total population estimated in 2024 at 236,747,130.” It added, “The resulting shortage in police personnel was compounded by the fact that more than 100,000 police officers were assigned to the protection of politicians and VIPs, rather than to tasks serving the general population.”
The EU agency further observed that the shortage of manpower, corruption, and insufficient resources have led to delayed responses to emergencies and have left many communities vulnerable. “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,” the report stated.
It also expressed concern about weak accountability mechanisms within the Force, which have allowed cases of unprofessional conduct to persist. “With reliable accountability mechanisms lacking, there were reports of police officers engaging in misconduct, including arbitrary arrests, extortion of money and excessive use of violence,” it added.
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.
The issue of police deployment to VIPs has been a longstanding concern in Nigeria. In June 2023, shortly after assuming office, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, ordered the withdrawal of Police Mobile Force (PMF) operatives from VIP duties, stating that the tactical unit would henceforth be reserved for national security operations. A similar directive was issued again in April 2025, ordering a nationwide withdrawal of mobile police officers attached to VIPs.
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However, the EU report indicates that a significant number of officers remain deployed for elite protection, despite these directives.
In August 2025, Hadiza Bala-Usman, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy and Coordination and Head of the Central Delivery Coordination Unit (CDCU), also condemned the continued deployment of police officers to VIPs, stressing that it undermines national security.
“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,” Bala-Usman said. “We cannot continue to deploy police trained for anti-terrorism operations just to guard individuals in Ikoyi. That is completely wrong.”
She further urged the government to free up police personnel for national duties and advised VIPs seeking armed protection to hire licensed private security companies instead. “We must free our policemen to do national security as required. Whoever feels too important and wants machine gun-wielding personnel protecting him should go and hire a private security company with the necessary documentation, not take our mobile policemen,” she said.
Bala-Usman also called for a review of the Police Act to empower private security firms to handle some duties currently assigned to the police. “We must free our security agencies to do what they need to do. So that Act needs to be amended. I’ve put it among the deliverables that we need to track, because VIP protection, there’s a wide gamut of security deployment that really should not be done by our security personnel. We must free them for them to do national security as required,” she declared.
The report’s findings have reignited debate on the misallocation of Nigeria’s police resources and the urgent need for reforms to ensure that law enforcement serves the wider population rather than the political elite.