IG Reduces Tactical Teams to Boost Supervision, Deployment

By: Abudu Olalekan

The Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, just dropped a big directive. He’s cutting back on tactical teams across the country. Goal? Better oversight. Fewer complaints from folks out there.

Zonal and state commands? Max five teams now. Area commands, divisions—down to three. That’s the cap.

Force PRO Anthony Placid broke it down in a statement from Abuja Sunday. Said it came from worries over too many units running wild without enough eyes on ’em.

Heads of formations can merge or disband as they see fit. Smart move. Frees up cops for stations that’ve been short-staffed. Those tactical squads sucked up all the manpower.

“The IGP directed the reduction… at heads of formations’ discretion,” the statement went. Yep.

Important bit—this doesn’t touch state-run outfits. Think Lagos Rapid Response Squad. Oyo’s Special Response Squad. Bayelsa’s Operation DOO-AKPOR. Others like ’em. Safe.

IG figures this shakes loose personnel for grassroots policing. Cuts down on those excess gripes too.

It’s all about accountability. People-friendly force. Disu hit that note in his first big speech to Nigerians. Now, stepping up supervision on what’s left. Bolsters divisions. Nixes public beefs.

This after some media buzz claiming full dissolution of units. Nah. Misread. Placid cleared it: just a trim to tackle ops concerns, alleged oversteps.

Boss man gets it—tactical teams fight crime hard. But too many? Drains posts and stations. Tough to supervise. Hurts the Force’s rep.