Nigeria’s chief justice, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has defended a presidential directive ordering the withdrawal of police officers attached to very important personalities (VIPs), describing it as part of broader efforts to confront the country’s worsening insecurity, while insisting that judges are exempt from the policy.
In a statement issued by her media aide, Tobi Soniyi, the chief justice said the directive was never intended to affect members of the judiciary, amid growing concern following reports that police orderlies attached to some public figures had been withdrawn.
The intervention followed a warning from the chief judge of Taraba state, Joel Agya, who said on Tuesday that police orderlies attached to judges in the state had been withdrawn, exposing judicial officers to serious security risks. Agya said judges and state governors had previously been exempted from the policy in recognition of their legal entitlement to police protection.
Despite this exemption, he said, police orderlies assigned to judicial officers across Taraba were withdrawn on 8 December without prior notice.
“This development is deeply troubling,” Agya said. “Firstly, it is a threat to judges’ security and personal safety, as judges handling sensitive criminal, political, terrorism and corruption cases are exposed to high risk.
“Secondly, it undermines judicial independence. Judicial independence is not only the absence of interference but also protection from intimidation. Without orderlies, courtrooms can become unsafe, and proceedings may be disrupted.”
Responding to the concerns, Soniyi said the chief justice was unaware of any withdrawal of police orderlies attached to judges, questioning why such an action would have been taken when judges were expressly exempted from the directive.
He added that no other chief judge had raised similar complaints. “Other chief judges have not said so,” he said.
The Taraba state commissioner of police, Betty Isokpan, also moved to calm tensions, insisting that court orderlies had not been withdrawn. She said the policy applied only to personal police escorts and guards attached to VIPs, not officers assigned to court duties or posted to judges’ residences.
“Every court is expected to have a court duty police officer who stays during proceedings,” Isokpan said. “We have only withdrawn police escorts who accompany VIPs to places like Sokoto, Lagos, and Kaduna, in compliance with the inspector general’s directives.”
The conflicting accounts have heightened anxieties within the judiciary, as Nigeria grapples with persistent insecurity and renewed debates over the balance between public safety, judicial independence, and the use of limited police resources.
