Tinubu Doubles Down on VIP Escort Ban, Orders Armed Forest Guards and Immediate Ranching Plan
Abuja, December 10, 2025 – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday issued his strongest warning yet on the controversial withdrawal of police officers from VIP security details, declaring that from now on, any minister, agency head, or individual seeking special protection must obtain his personal clearance through the Inspector-General of Police.
Speaking moments after entering the Council Chambers for the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, the President said the directive was non-negotiable and aimed at freeing up thousands of police personnel currently attached to politicians and private citizens for redeployment to the frontlines of the war against kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism.
“I have already informed the Inspector-General of Police. Any request for security protection must go through the IGP and get my clearance,” Tinubu stated firmly. “If you have any problem of security because of the nature of your assignment, please contact the IGP and get my clearance. No exceptions.”
To prevent genuine vulnerabilities from being exposed, the President immediately instructed the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to work with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to replace withdrawn police escorts with trained civil defence officers. “Replace those police officers immediately so that we don’t leave people exposed,” he said.
The President also directed the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the Department of State Services to set up a special committee to review the entire national security deployment architecture and strengthen intelligence gathering. In a significant policy shift, he ordered that forest guards across the country be armed without further delay.
“I want to know from the NSA about arming our forest guards. Take it very seriously,” Tinubu said, emphasising that Nigeria must mobilise “all the forces we can utilise” to reclaim forests that have become safe havens for bandits and insurgents.
On the long-running herder-farmer crisis, President Tinubu handed a detailed document to Vice President Kashim Shettima and issued an immediate directive: the National Economic Council must urgently identify grazing reserves and villages that can be rehabilitated into modern ranches and livestock settlements.
“Get the NEC to first identify which villages or grazing reserves can be salvaged or rehabilitated into ranches and livestock settlements,” he said. “Land is a state matter. Work with the governors. We must end these recurring conflicts and turn the livestock sector into an engine of economic opportunity.”
The President stressed that the goal is not just to stop the bloodshed that has claimed thousands of lives in the Middle Belt and Northwest, but to modernise an industry that remains largely subsistence-based despite its massive economic potential.
Wednesday’s pronouncements come exactly two weeks after Tinubu declared a national security emergency and first ordered the mass withdrawal of police officers from VIP duties. The initial directive triggered immediate pushback from some quarters, with reports of selective enforcement and complaints from senior government officials and lawmakers who suddenly found themselves without armed escorts.
The Nigeria Police Force is believed to have over 100,000 officers tied down providing round-the-clock protection to politicians, former governors, traditional rulers, business tycoons, and even entertainers — resources that security experts say are desperately needed on highways, in schools, and in rural communities now under near-constant siege by armed groups.
Implementation has already begun in parts of the country. In Lagos, police authorities confirmed that several high-profile individuals had their details withdrawn in the past week, while the Senate on Wednesday mandated its Committee on Police Affairs to investigate allegations of uneven application of the policy.
The President’s decision to personally vet future requests for special protection is seen as an attempt to close loopholes and ensure the policy is not undermined by political influence or back-channel lobbying.
Meanwhile, the directive to arm forest guards marks a major departure from previous practice. For years, state and federal forest rangers have operated with little more than batons and whistles despite being expected to confront heavily armed bandits. Security analysts have long argued that properly equipped and motivated forest security units could play a critical role in denying criminals sanctuary in Nigeria’s vast woodlands.
The ranching initiative is equally ambitious. By tasking the National Economic Council — chaired by Vice President Shettima and comprising all 36 state governors — with leading the identification and rehabilitation of grazing reserves, Tinubu appears to be pursuing a more collaborative federal-state approach than previous attempts that foundered on accusations of land-grabbing.
Supporters of the President’s sweeping measures argue that Nigeria cannot continue business as usual while schools are emptied by mass abductions, highways have become death traps, and entire farming communities have been displaced. Critics, however, caution that without transparent implementation, adequate funding, and political will at the state level, the reforms risk becoming another well-intentioned but short-lived intervention.
As the Federal Executive Council meeting continued behind closed doors, one message from the President was unmistakable: the era of police officers serving as status symbols for the elite while ordinary citizens live in fear is over.
Whether the latest directives will translate into measurable improvements in security and agricultural productivity remains to be seen, but for the first time in years, the Nigerian government appears to be treating both the symptoms and root causes of the country’s overlapping crises with the urgency they demand.
