Just recently, the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, was said to have directed the Commissioners of Police in the five South East states and Rivers State to suspend the services of police operatives attached to very important personalities (VIPs) in their states until the ongoing incessant attacks on police personnel and formations are over.
No doubt, the IGP’s directive came as a response to the reported killings of policemen by some unknown gunmen who often cart away arms and ammunition, release detainees, and torch police stations mainly in Imo, Abia, Anambra, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States.
While nobody has been apprehended so far, it is worth noting that the Police have continued to insist that the unrelenting attacks bore the trademark of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) through its militant arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). And, according to the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, the new directive was intended to protect police personnel and VIPs from attacks by members of the outlawed Ibo group. IPOB had, however, denied any involvement of its members in the present state of insecurity across these states.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had recently approved some new security measures to tame the insurrection in the South East and South South geo-political zones. That was after a series of security meetings held for more than a week in the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. It is being reasoned that the latest police order, in addition to the recent launch of Operation Re- store Peace in the region, might be an outcome of the prolonged deliberations.
This is surely not the first time the police authorities in Nigeria had, for whatever reason, ordered a recall of their men and women assigned to protect VIPs, especially under the present administration. For example, in March 2018, the then IGP, Ibrahim Idris, did order such withdrawal. How it ended is now a safe guess.
In October last year, the erstwhile IGP, Mohammed Adamu, demanded a similar call-back, exempting only those deployed to Governors, Senate President and the Reps Speaker. This came not long after the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) as a result of the nationwide protests over allegations of police brutality. It is even doubtful if this one was heeded in the least.
Well, no matter how else anyone may see it, the reality is that posting policemen on special duties to whoever can afford it has since become a major source of revenue for the Police in this country. And this probably explains why the nation’s moneybags, including the so-called Yahoo Boys, often retain a retinue of them.
Regarding the politicians, Nigerians have often wondered why their elected representatives who are supposed to be readily accessible have opted to surround themselves with armed police escorts. Ordinarily, the general understanding would be that moving around with police escorts confers an esteemed status on any fellow; it also serves to guarantee easy movement in case of traffic jams as the escorts usually alight to create a pass. Again, the present rate of crime seems to justify such privilege. And not the least is the attempt by politicians to avoid being constantly pestered by some disgruntled gang leaders and the obviously indigent among their constituents.
This, therefore, brings to question the number of policemen left to protect the rest citizens of this country, especially in the light of the prevailing security challenges posed by armed robbery, banditry, herders-farmers clashes, kidnapping, rape, cultism and terrorism. Already, it is reported that Nigeria’s ratio of one cop to 550 citizens is below the United Nations-recommended minimum of 1:500. To deploy about 40% of the available policemen to serve as security escorts to a few VIPs means that many ordinary citizens and communities are left unpoliced or, at best, underpoliced. And this places them at the mercy of criminals and other mischief makers.
There have been calls for the government to recruit more cops to bridge the apparent policing gap in the country. While one is inclined to support the callers, it will only be to the extent that it enables Nigeria step into a better UN ratio threshold; else, the authorities should undertake the licensing of a few arms-bearing private security organisations with good national spread.
If such outfits are well developed and regulated, our VIPs, banks and other similarly guarded entities will need no prodding to patronise them and release their police guards to perform regular police duties for the benefit of every citizen. But are the cops willing to let go of such lucrative revenue source?
During the free-for-all that broke out in Iraq immediately after the US-led dethronement of Saddam Hussein, subsequent efforts to restore order in the Persian Gulf country were greatly bolstered by the services of Blackwater, an American private military firm, which was hired by The Pentagon in Washington, DC to guard its resident commanders in Baghdad and also escort visiting top US officials.
The main point here is that our government can think in this line by licensing similar private firms, even if at mere policing level. Until this is done, the recurrent order for a recall of police escorts from VIPs, even as a weak pronouncement, is capable of embarrassing the super rich to the point of considering self-help by way of engaging a squad of some armed machos. Of course, our big guns are usually in the habit of celebrating their major business and electoral successes with skyward shots of shot guns. So, it is not surprising that they already own such weapons, licensed or not. After all, who searches a VIP’s convoy in Nigeria?

By: Ibelema Jumbo