The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has removed its Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, barely six months after he assumed the influential position.
Sources within the police hierarchy confirmed that the decision to remove the Assistant Commissioner of Police was approved on Thursday morning following internal changes within the force leadership.
The development comes less than 24 hours after Olatunji Disu was sworn in as the 23rd Inspector-General of Police by President Bola Tinubu.
Disu was appointed last week following the removal of the former police chief, Kayode Egbetokun, who had led the force since 2023.
A senior police source familiar with the development told reporters that the change was effected early Thursday as part of a broader restructuring within the police command.
“The Force Public Relations Officer has been removed this morning,” the source said.
“We are yet to know who will take over the role, but with a new Inspector-General in place, it is not unusual for certain strategic positions to change.”
According to insiders, uncertainty remains over who will replace Hundeyin as the official spokesperson of the police.
Another source disclosed that heightened operational activities within the force headquarters may be responsible for the delay in announcing a replacement.
“We thought he would last longer considering his expertise and experience,” the source said. “But when a new IGP takes over, adjustments at the top are expected. Unfortunately, he was affected.”
Hundeyin, a native of Badagry in Lagos State, was appointed Force Public Relations Officer by the former police boss, Egbetokun.
Before his appointment, he had built a reputation within the force’s communication structure, serving as Police Public Relations Officer at the Zone 2 Command Headquarters in Onikan, Lagos.
An alumnus of Lagos State University, Hundeyin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Legal Criminology and Security Psychology from the University of Ibadan.
He also earned a Certificate in Civil-Military Coordination from the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Training Centre in Jaji, Kaduna State.
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His professional affiliations include membership in the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM).
Hundeyin also served in an international peacekeeping capacity as part of the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in 2020.
The abrupt removal has triggered speculation within security circles about possible changes in the media strategy of the police under the new leadership of IGP Disu.
