Despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive to withdraw police officers from VIP protection duties, mobile police officers attached to private companies and corporate facilities have remained at their posts, findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed.

Tinubu had ordered the withdrawal of police personnel from VIP details to allow their redeployment to core policing functions.

On Thursday, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said a total of 11,566 personnel withdrawn from VIPs had been redeployed.

However, checks across several organisations in Abuja showed that the officers stationed at the company premises remain.

One of the officers providing security at a construction company in Abuja on Friday said they had not been asked to leave.

“We have not been asked to leave, and I don’t think we would be asked to go because most of the people here are foreigners,” he told our correspondent when asked why they were still there.

A staff member of a firm in the Jabi area of the FCT also told our correspondent that the mobile policemen assigned to them were still coming to work.

“The officers guarding our offices are still there. I also spoke with one of them yesterday, and he said the directive didn’t include those attached to companies,” the staffer said.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, could not be reached to confirm if companies were exempted from the directive.

However, in a statement on Friday, he said the ongoing withdrawal of officers from VIP duties is being implemented in phases to prevent security gaps across the country.

“For emphasis, the Nigeria Police Force confirms that the implementation of the Presidential Directive on the withdrawa’ of police officers from VIP duties has indeed commenced.

“However, this process is being carried out in a structured, phased, and professional manner to ensure that no security vacuum is created that could be exploited by criminal elements. Our priority remains the safety and security of all Nigerians, and measures have been put in place to ensure absolute maintenance of law and order throughout the transition period,” the statement partly read.

Debunking a viral document, Hundeyin dismissed it, noting that the document, allegedly signed by one CSP Suleiman Abdullahi, was false.

“The Force wishes to categorically state that this document, allegedly signed by one CSP Suleiman Abdullahi, described as the Admin Officer of the squadron, is fake and should be disregarded by the public.

“There is no officer by the name CSP Suleiman Abdullahi serving in 50 PMF Squadron, nor is the position of Admin Officer in any PMF squadron held by an officer of the rank of Chief Superintendent of Police. This fabrication appears to be a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and create unnecessary confusion.”

Private security firms push for inclusion

However, private security companies have begun pressing for formal involvement in the Federal Government’s transition plan.

The Chairman of the Interim Caretaker Management Committee of the Association of Licensed Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria, Maj Gen Elvis Njoku (retd.), in an interview with our correspondent, said the industry was ready to take up responsibilities that would emerge as police personnel return to core law enforcement roles.

Njoku said the withdrawal of police officers from VIP duties had created an operational gap that private security firms were prepared to fill, noting that the sector “has come of age” and should be part of the government’s restructuring process.

He confirmed that engagements had already begun with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the regulatory body for private guard companies.

“The President has directed the withdrawal of police officers from VIP security duties, and that gap must be filled. The private security industry has come of age. There is no reason we cannot step into some of the roles the police have.

“Applications for the new arrangements are already going to the NSCDC.

“Just yesterday, we visited the Commandant-General and discussed these issues extensively. I can assure you that a lot is being done to ensure a seamless transition as police officers return to their core duty of enforcing the law.”

On whether private security guards should now be allowed to carry firearms, given the rising insecurity, he said the law does not permit it, and the association is not pushing for an immediate change.

“Private security guards in Nigeria cannot carry arms. And we have never insisted that we must carry arms.

“Considering the proliferation of small arms in Nigeria, I personally do not think the country is ripe for armed private security. First, we must strengthen integration with the NSCDC and raise training to the required standard.”

Njoku added that any future shift toward allowing armed private security would depend on national security conditions and government policy. (Sunday PUNCH)