Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Idris Wase, has urged President Bola Tinubu to urgently review his directive to withdraw police escorts from Very Important Persons (VIPs), warning that the move could exacerbate Nigeria’s worsening security crisis.
Speaking during plenary on Wednesday, Wase echoed grave concern that the policy, if implemented without clear guidelines, could embolden criminal elements and lead to a spike in kidnappings across the country.
“If we’re not careful, will lead to more kidnappings,” Wase cautioned, referencing a video circulating online in which armed bandits allegedly threatened to target the President and other political figures.
Drawing comparisons with other nations, Wase cited the disparity in policing capacity.
“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,” he said.
The lawmaker, who represents Wase Federal Constituency in Plateau State, stressed that the issue was not about elite privilege but about safeguarding lives in a country grappling with rampant insecurity.
“This is not about VIPs. When you give criminals police to guard them, that’s where we should have reason. If we are not careful, there will be more now, he said.”
Wase painted a bleak picture of the security situation in the North and North-Central regions, where he said the threat of violence has become a daily reality.
“There is no politician, or person, or public office that has integrity, that is not contributing, not just from state coffers, but from our own pockets, to support the system so we can have peace. But the peace is not yet gotten, and it’s far from it,” he said.
He warned that the House may soon be forced to revisit the issue if the policy is not revised.
“There’s a need to review that order. It’s a good order, but the categorisation has to be spelled out.
“Once it is 6pm, to get to Keffi, I’m scared, because I know what is happening,” he said.
Citing alarming statistics, Wase revealed that bandits had extorted over N5 billion in ransom payments in a single year, with more than 30,000 lives lost to banditry and insurgency-related violence.
“Kidnapping happens virtually every day. Within the Boko Haram threshold, what we lost is more than 30,000 people killed in the process of this banditry and whatever,” he said.
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