By RismadarVoice Reporter, November 27, 2025
Former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim (Rtd.), has warned that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent directive ordering the withdrawal of police officers from Very Important Persons (VIPs) will likely fail just like similar directives issued in the past unless Nigeria undertakes deep structural reforms within its policing system.
In a comprehensive analysis made available to journalists, the retired senior officer said the challenge goes far beyond presidential pronouncements, stressing that successive Inspectors-General of Police have issued the same instruction for years but lacked the institutional backing to enforce it.
DIG Ibrahim disclosed that between 80,000 and 90,000 police officers nearly one-quarter of the entire police workforce are currently assigned to VIP protection.
According to him, the officers serve politicians, businessmen, religious leaders, bank executives, mall owners, entertainers, expatriates and even private citizens “seeking status.”
He described the VIP escort culture as a parallel economy within the police, one that generates both official and unofficial revenue for officers and commanders.
“VIP protection has become a cash cow, deeply entrenched in the system. It is now an economy inside the police, and that is why every attempt at reform collapses,” he said.
Ibrahim warned that the diversion of so many officers to VIP duties has crippled regular policing across the country.
According to him, the consequences include: Understaffed police stations nationwide, exposed rural and peri-urban communities, slow or non-existent response times, weak intelligence gathering, reactive rather than proactive crime prevention.
He stressed that the chronic understaffing is part of what fuels rising insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and violent crime.
The retired DIG noted that reform is further complicated by a widespread belief among the elite that police escorts are an entitlement.
He said previous attempts to withdraw officers collapsed due to Political interference, pressure from businessmen and power brokers, legal loopholes exploited by influential Nigerians.
“Many influential Nigerians view police escorts as a right of office or a symbol of status. Until this mindset is confronted, no directive will stand,” he said.
DIG Ibrahim concluded that the President’s directive will only succeed if accompanied by bold reforms addressing police funding, welfare and training, internal accountability, and a clear legal framework limiting VIP protection to truly high-risk individuals.
Until then, he warned, the cycle of directives and reversals will continue.
