Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Idris Wase, has urged President Bola Tinubu to reconsider his directive to withdraw police protection from Very Important Persons (VIPs), warning that the move could fuel the country’s escalating kidnapping crisis.
Speaking during a House session on Wednesday, Wase said the order “if we’re not careful, will lead to more kidnappings.”
He cited a video showing bandits openly boasting that they intended to target the President and other politicians.
Wase compared Nigeria’s security infrastructure with other countries, noting that Egypt, with a population far smaller than Nigeria’s, employs more than five million police officers, while many Nigerian communities lack even basic police presence.
He said, “In a very small country called Egypt, where the number is not up to 100 million, you have recruitment of police officers more than a million, yes, 5 million, sorry, 5 million. Here in Nigeria, you go to communities, you would traverse more than 30, 20 kilometres, you cannot get even a police station to report an issue.
“This one has to be done immediately, if we mean to solve this problem, and I was thinking about this, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the effort, Mr. President, I appreciate his concern.
“This is one other situation that people are saying, withdraw VIPs, it’s not about the VIPs. When you give criminals police to guard them, this is where I thought we should have reason. They withdraw that order that has been given. I think, if we are not careful, there will be more now, because I saw, I watched a film, of a video of one of the kidnappers, or bandits, boasting that they are going to get the head of the, Mr. President, they are going after politicians, and these people are all unrepentant.”
He emphasised that withdrawing police protection is not about VIP privileges but about maintaining public safety.
Wase said, “Mr. Speaker, respected colleagues, I want to say that, without missing words, that those of us from the North here, and North Central, the heat is more than what you can think of. There is no politician, or person, or public office that has integrity, that is not contributing, it’s not about the money getting from the state, no, including our pockets.
“We have to support the system, so that we will have peace in our society, but the peace is not yet gotten, and it’s far from it.
“So, I want to appeal, that that order, there’s a need to review that order, it’s a good order, but the categorisation has to be spelled out, because before you know it, this House will again come back, faced with the same problem of kidnapping, and whatever you have it. I don’t think there’s anybody that will say, I can travel with my eyes open, between here and Jos. Once it is 6pm, to get to Keffi, I’m scared, because I know what is happening.”
Highlighting the severity of insecurity in Northern and North-Central Nigeria, Wase noted that banditry has collected over N5 billion in ransom within a single year, with more than 30,000 fatalities recorded, not counting broader losses from insurgency and terrorism.
“Kidnapping happens virtually every day. Mr. Speaker, respected colleagues, in one year alone, bandits collected a sum of about N5 billion, and in one year alone, in terms of deaths, killing within our own society. In one year alone, sir, within the Boko Haram threshold, what we lost is more than 30,000 people that are killed in the process of this banditry and whatever.”
He appealed to the President to review the order, stressing the need for a clear categorisation of protected individuals to prevent further attacks and loss of lives.
