IG to Nigerians: Stop Recording Police Officers for Skits, It’s Demoralising

Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, has expressed concern over the growing practice of citizens recording police officers with their phones, saying the trend has become “very, very demoralising” for members of the force.

In a video shared by TV Platinum on Wednesday, Disu spoke in Abuja during a meeting with the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, and members of the NBA executive committee. The meeting was part of efforts to prevent recurring clashes between lawyers and police officers.

The IG said a recent judgment on the recording of police officers had raised concern within the force, noting that citizens had subsequently begun recording officers in different locations.

“The recent judgement on recording of police officers, that one really jolted our officers. And it became something of concern to us because the citizens started coming out with their phones to record police officers everywhere they saw them,” Disu said.

He said the practice had extended beyond police operations in public places, claiming that some people had gone to restaurants to record officers.

“Everywhere you see a police man, start recording a police man. So this is something that was very, very demoralising to us,” the IGP said.

Disu, however, acknowledged that citizens had the right to record police officers performing their duties in public, but urged restraint in how such recordings were made and used.

“We are not saying they cannot exercise their rights of recording officers in the public places while doing their jobs,” he said.

“But they should put restraints and not turn our police officers to content for their skits or anything,” he added.

The police chief also highlighted the difficult conditions under which officers operate, particularly those deployed to checkpoints and isolated locations.

“If you look at where we have our officers on checking points, there are dangerous areas thick in the forest, thick in the bushes, on the highways, middle of nowhere,” Disu said, adding that officers often remained in such locations “morning and night” to protect the public.