The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, on Thursday disclosed that 11,566 police personnel have been withdrawn from VIP protection duties in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive.

Speaking at the Strategic Police Officers’ Conference in Abuja, the IGP said the redeployment of the withdrawn officers to underserved communities had already begun.

He described the presidential directive as a “strategic and deliberate realignment” of national policing priorities, driven by the need to strengthen frontline operations across the country.

“This action is a patriotic, forward-looking, and operationally prudent measure designed to strengthen our manpower capacity for critical frontline policing functions,” he said.

Mr. Egbetokun explained that the policy would allow the Force to enhance deployments in areas where policing is most urgently needed, including rural communities, high-risk townships, major population centres, and locations facing emerging violent threats.

“Simply put, this policy ensures that more officers are repositioned from personalised security duties to collective public protection responsibilities, where their presence and operational impact are most urgently required,” he added.

The IGP, however, warned that the implementation must be carefully managed to prevent misinterpretation and exploitation.

He said the Force was aware of the risk of disinformation by individuals who may seek to politicise or manipulate the directive.

“To guard against this, the Force will release detailed implementation modalities, outlining processes, timelines, safeguards, and accountability measures,” he said.

According to him, the modalities would first be communicated internally before being made public through professional channels to avoid “opportunistic actors weaponising ambiguity”.

President Tinubu on Wednesday declared a nationwide security emergency and directed increased recruitment into the Nigerian Armed Forces and Police Force amid rising attacks, kidnappings, and terror-related incidents.

He also ordered that officers withdrawn from VIP protection undergo “crash training” before being deployed to high-need areas.