Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, has expressed concern over the growing practice of Nigerians recording police officers with their mobile phones, describing the trend as “very, very demoralising” for members of the force.
Disu made the remarks during a meeting with the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, and members of the NBA executive committee in Abuja.
The police chief said a recent court judgment concerning the recording of police officers had raised concerns within the force, with citizens subsequently recording officers at different locations.
He acknowledged that members of the public have the right to record police officers carrying out their duties in public, but urged them to exercise restraint in how such recordings are made and used.
“Can we come to your offices and record you in your offices? Can we even record in the courts? We are not saying they cannot exercise their rights of recording officers in the public places while doing their jobs.
“But they should put restraints and not turn our police officers to content for their skits or anything,” Disu said.
The IGP explained that many police officers operate in dangerous and isolated locations, particularly at checkpoints on highways and in areas surrounded by forests and bushes.
“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,” he said.
Disu’s comments come amid an increasing debate over citizens’ rights to document police activities in public and the manner in which footage of officers is subsequently shared or used online.
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