A former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, Mutalubi Adebayo, has said judges require police escorts as a matter of necessity due to the sensitive nature of their duties.
Adebayo stated this on Sunday during an interview on ARISE Television while speaking on the broader debate over the use of police escorts by public office holders.
According to him, judges occupy a special position in society and should not be exposed to security risks, noting that the nature of cases they handle makes them vulnerable to attacks.
“Judges are not VIP. They are even a special class of people. They are more than VIP. They need police escort as a matter of duty. It is very compulsory for judges considering the nature of the job they do.
“We must not expose them to being attacked. They treat several criminal matters and other sensitive matters. So that it won’t be good, even for the society, for our judges to be exposed without having their police details,” he said.
He added that exposing judges without security cover would be unhealthy for society, stressing that adequate protection was essential for the independence and safety of the judiciary.
The senior lawyer, however, criticised what he described as the excessive use of police escorts by some political office holders, insisting that such privileges should be limited and regulated
He said senators and other political figures who require protection could engage private security firms rather than rely on police officers.
“If they (Senators) need it, they should apply for private guards from private security companies. Do they want to compare their jobs, what they do, to that of judges? Some classes of public servants still need escorts. Like judges. Even ministers, they do,” he added.
He also noted that while some categories of public servants, including ministers, may require escorts, the number of security personnel attached to them should be restricted.
“But what I don’t like is that they should not be going around with retinues of security duties. They should be limited and they should be restricted. Not that they will go with… as if the president himself is going out. But they need it,” Adebayo stated.
Adebayo further drew from his experience as Oyo State Attorney-General, revealing that he never used a police escort throughout his four-year tenure in office.
Adebayo said, “I never had a police escort. I never applied for it. And my office applied for security duties for other ministers and political appointees.
“But I didn’t use them. Because I consider it a great risk. Because if you enter a place now, you might go in unnoticed.
“But when people see you with the police, they will ask, Who is that man? And you become exposed. So it is not compulsive to do it. The guilty are always afraid.”
The comments come amid discussions following President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the withdrawal of police escorts from VIPs, as part of efforts to redeploy personnel to core policing duties.
Recently, Senator Ali Ndume questioned the continued deployment of police escorts to the families of ministers.
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