Activist Adeyanju Slams Police Deployment to Protect Elites, Leaving Ordinary Citizens

Activist, Deji Adeyanju has criticized the Nigerian Police Force for deploying a significant number of officers to protect the country’s elites, while leaving ordinary citizens vulnerable to crime and violence.

Adeyanju stated that out of the approximately 350,000 policemen in Nigeria, almost 200,000 are assigned to protect wealthy individuals, politicians, and other high-profile figures, leaving only a fraction to attend to the security needs of the general public.

He described the ease with which the rich and famous can access police protection, citing examples of young men accompanied by multiple mobile police officers (MOPOLs) at nightclubs in Lagos and Abuja.

Adeyanju also noted that celebrities, governors, and other high-ranking officials have MOPOLs attached to them, while their wives and concubines also receive similar protection.

The activist argued that this misallocation of security personnel has contributed significantly to the rising insecurity across the country. “This is the reason why we are having insecurity in the country,” he said. “Let us stop beating around the bush as if we don’t know why they are killing people in Benue, Plateau, Kwara, Gombe… It is because there has been a collapse of policing in the country.”

Adeyanju also condemned the commercialization of police services, accusing officers of abandoning their constitutional duty to collect bribes on the road. He alleged that corruption has crippled police operations at the divisional level, forcing officers to generate revenue informally.

To address the crisis, Adeyanju proposed two solutions. Firstly, he suggested using the elite corps of the Civil Defence to protect VIPs, allowing the police to focus on their core responsibility of policing the nation. Secondly, he recommended legalizing gun ownership for ordinary citizens, citing the example of the United States.

“If we have reached a consensus that security groups all over the country have failed, let us allow people to carry guns,” he said. “Let us give licenses to citizens to carry guns like in America. If we all own guns, who will come to Plateau to terrorize anybody? Who will come to a community in Benue to terrorize anybody?”

Adeyanju concluded by asserting that if the government is unwilling to reform policing and redeploy officers back to public service, Nigeria should openly admit failure and empower citizens to protect themselves. His comments have sparked a heated debate about the role of the police in Nigeria and the need for urgent reform to address the country’s security challenges.