More than 100,000 officers of the Nigeria Police Force are currently assigned to protect politicians and other high-profile individuals, leaving fewer personnel available to secure ordinary citizens, according to a new report.
The report, released in November 2025 by the European Union Agency for Asylum, revealed that the Nigeria Police Force has an estimated 371,800 officers serving a population of over 236 million people. Despite this number, policing gaps remain widespread because a large chunk of the workforce is diverted to VIP security instead of community policing.
According to the document, “Over 100,000 police officers are deployed to protect politicians and VIPs, reducing the number of officers available to serve the general population.”
The report further highlighted longstanding issues such as shortages in manpower, corruption, and inadequate resources. These challenges, it said, result in slow responses to emergencies and leave many neighbourhoods with little or no police presence.
It added, “The lack of adequate staffing, coupled with corruption and limited equipment, has contributed to delayed crime responses and left several communities without proper protection.”
The agency also noted that weak internal accountability has allowed unprofessional behaviour to go unchecked, including extortion, arbitrary arrests, and excessive use of force.
Attempts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, for clarification were unsuccessful at the time of writing, as calls and messages went unanswered.
The heavy use of police officers for personal security has been a recurring issue in Nigeria. In June 2023, shortly after assuming office, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, ordered the withdrawal of Mobile Police Force operatives from VIP escorts, saying the tactical unit should focus on national security and high-risk operations. A similar directive was issued again in April 2025.
Despite these efforts, the new report suggests that the practice remains widespread.
In August, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, also criticised the situation, saying VIPs should not monopolise police manpower at the expense of national safety.
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She said, “It is disturbing to see VIPs moving around with large convoys of armed police, while communities that genuinely need security are left exposed. We cannot deploy officers trained for anti-terror operations simply to guard individuals living comfortably in Ikoyi. It makes no sense.”
She argued that anyone who requires private, high-intensity protection should hire a licensed private security firm rather than using government-trained officers.
Bala-Usman also called for a review of the Police Act to allow private security companies take on some of the responsibilities that currently fall on the police.
“We must free our security agencies to perform their core duties. The Act needs to be amended so that our police are not tied down doing work that private firms can handle,” she said.
