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He stressed that the move was neither political nor sentimental, but rooted in the core mandate of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure the protection of citizens and maintain public order.
Speaking on Thursday during a meeting with senior police commanders in Abuja, Egbetokun said the decision, issued by President Bola Tinubu, was designed to redirect manpower to critical areas where public safety needs are most urgent.
He stressed that the move was neither political nor sentimental, but rooted in the core mandate of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure the protection of citizens and maintain public order.
“In line with the President’s directive, we have withdrawn a total of 11,566 personnel from VIP protection. These officers are being redeployed to critical policing duties immediately,” the IGP said.
According to him, the withdrawal would enhance manpower deployment for township and rural security, population protection, intelligence-driven operations, proactive patrols, and rapid response to emerging threats across states.
Egbetokun noted that the implementation process would be carefully managed to prevent impersonation, misinformation, or misuse of the directive by criminal groups.
He added that detailed operational guidelines would be released soon.
“The withdrawal is not a retreat from responsibility, but a reclamation of it,” he said.
The police chief said recent security incidents, including abductions in Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger states, had underscored the need to reposition the Force and strengthen security visibility nationwide.
Although security agencies responded swiftly to those attacks, he acknowledged that they created the impression in some quarters that the police were not doing enough.
“We may not be doing enough, but it is not that we are not working. We are actually doing something. But as leaders, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard,” he said.
Egbetokun highlighted several operational gains recorded in recent weeks, including the arrest of 8202 suspects for various crimes and the rescue of 232 kidnapped victims.
“The Nigeria Police Force has achieved multiple operational outcomes across strategic formations and tactical response structures, including 451 armed robbery suspects, 356 kidnapping suspects, 534 murder suspects, 129 culpable homicide suspects, 173 persons for unlawful possession of firearms, 312 suspected rapists, and 282 suspected cultists. In addition, 6,094 other suspects were arrested for various serious offences,” he said.
He also listed the recovery of 249 firearms, nearly 21,000 rounds of ammunition, and 238 vehicles.
To outpace criminal activities, the IGP said the Force was strengthening intelligence frameworks, increasing community engagement, and expanding inter-agency collaboration.
With the festive season approaching, Egbetokun directed all state commands to activate enhanced security operations, including expanded highway patrols, visibility policing, and community-focused strategies.
“As we approach the festive season, the nation will witness its highest annual travel activity. Citizens returning home to celebrate with family and communities, criminals will seek to exploit the roads.
“Therefore, the roads must be decisively dominated by proactive policing and preparedness. I hereby charge each state command to activate festive deployment and operational plans,” he said.
The plans, he noted, would include upgraded highway patrol teams, reinforced foot patrols at motor parks, anti-robbery dragnets, intelligence-backed rural patrols, and inter-agency collaborations to safeguard major national routes and community corridors.
Commands were also directed to deploy drones and AI-powered surveillance tools.
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