Key Points
- Viral post shows men in uniform near Cubana ChiefPriest’s reported home. Many users ask if Tinubu’s VIP police withdrawal is only audio.
- Police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin says the clampdown is real and active. He notes that officers escorting VIPs without approval now risk arrest.
- Force chiefs say thousands of officers already left VIP details across Nigeria. They insist the focus has shifted back to patrols and public safety.
Cubana ChiefPriest (Pascal Okechukwu) is once again at the centre of a sharp online debate over police escorts and special treatment. A viral X post shared photos of men in uniform said to be guarding his home, days after President Bola Tinubu ordered police escorts withdrawn from VIPs across Nigeria.
The X user tagged the Nigeria Police Force and asked if the President’s new order was “audio”, using the street slang for a promise that exists only in words.
The post quickly spread as many Nigerians questioned why a famous nightlife boss still appeared to move with uniformed men after the loud policy change. Early reactions also recalled past reports on the police pullback from VIP escorts.
Force Public Relations Officer CSP Benjamin Hundeyin then stepped into the debate. He replied to the shared image and stressed that the clampdown on police escorts for VIPs is real and not a fake show. He added that the Force had already taken strong steps to enforce the new order.
Viral post renews escort questions
In the now viral post, the user claimed the uniformed men seen in the photo were regular police officers. The same user then asked if the President’s escort order existed only on paper. Other users echoed the concern and tagged top police pages for clear info.
Many comments argued that famous figures seem to keep special help while regular people face rising crime. Some fans of Cubana ChiefPriest pushed back and said the men might be private guards in similar outfits, not police officers. The photo itself did not carry any clear badge or unit label.
The post came just a day after a ValidUpdates story on earlier Cubana escort questions report, which showed him moving in a convoy with men who looked like police escorts. That video also stirred claims that some rich figures still enjoy state-backed security.
Police spokesperson says clampdown is active
Hundeyin’s reply did not confirm whether the men in the fresh photo were police officers or private guards. Instead, he focused on wider enforcement and stressed that the Force is already acting on the President’s order. He pointed to fresh signals sent to all state commands on escort work.
Recent wireless messages from the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, direct state commands to arrest any officer still escorting VIPs without proper approval.
The note warns that supervising officers who look away will also face strict internal steps. The order places the X-Squad and the Inspector General’s Monitoring Unit in charge of checks.
The police high command says this marks a sharp shift from private guard work back to core patrol work. Officers pulled off VIP details are expected to join town patrols, highway checks and quick response teams. The Force says this will free more hands to fight robbery, kidnap and other daily threats.
In a separate update, the Force said more than 11,000 officers had already left VIP duties. It claimed that 11,566 police officers once tied to VIPs have now been withdrawn and reassigned. Top officers say this is a “historic” change in how police serve the public.
Hundeyin has also warned users against drawing hard claims from a single viral image. He urged people to send such content to official channels for checks instead of making fast claims online. He repeated that the directive to withdraw officers from VIPs “is not audio” and is still in force.
What Tinubu’s directive means for VIP escorts
President Tinubu first gave the order on November 23 during a security meeting in Abuja. He told police chiefs to pull officers away from VIP escorts and send them back to patrol work. He also asked VIPs who still want armed escorts to apply to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps instead.
This means many business leaders, party chiefs and other rich figures can no longer keep long lines of police guards at private events. New escort requests now move through a stricter system with clear records. Police say the goal is to free manpower and help close gaps in rural and poor areas.
The change is also meant to calm long-held complaints that officers work more as private bodyguards than public protectors. For years, many Nigerians have pointed to long convoys at clubs and weddings while patrol cars lack fuel or drivers. Police chiefs now say those cars “must never sit idle while Nigerians face danger”.
Still, the online debate around Cubana ChiefPriest shows how trust can fade when the public sees mixed signs. Many users say every new clip of rich escorts makes the order look weak. Others argue that open checks and clear updates can slowly rebuild trust.
Rights groups have also called for a clear list of people still allowed to use police escorts. They say this would help the public track progress on the order. Police chiefs have not yet released such a list, but they insist that internal checks are ongoing.
For now, the Force wants people to send in clips and reports of any officer who still guards VIPs without clear duty papers. The Cubana ChiefPriest debate has become one more test of how serious the clampdown really is. The next steps from the police may decide if people still call it “audio” or accept that the change is real
