Police: Cameras Can Protect Officers, Citizens
The Nigeria Police Force has clarified that Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, did not ban Nigerians from recording police officers, saying his objection is to the misuse of such recordings, particularly for social media skits and entertainment.
Force New Media Officer, Aliyu Giwa, made the clarification in a series of posts on X on Saturday, following controversy over the IGP’s recent comments on citizens filming officers while on duty.
Giwa said the police were not seeking to shield officers from accountability or deny citizens their rights, stressing that responsible recording could help both members of the public and the police.
“The IGP’s concern is not to shield Police officers from accountability or deny citizens their rights. Instead, it focuses on the misuse of recordings, especially when officers are provoked, ridiculed, filmed for entertainment, or subjected to unnecessary intrusion while performing their duties,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to distinguish between legitimate documentation of police activities and deliberately exploiting encounters with officers for social media content.
According to him, recordings can provide valuable evidence when officers act improperly and can also protect police personnel against false allegations.
“As a public institution, the Police must remain open to legitimate scrutiny. Evidence is essential when an officer acts improperly. Similarly, responsible recording can protect officers from false allegations and support investigations,” Giwa said.
He, however, maintained that police officers retain their right to dignity and privacy despite wearing uniforms.
“Wearing the uniform does not remove an officer’s right to dignity or privacy,” he added.
Giwa’s clarification followed criticism from an X user who argued that police officers should be equipped with body cameras if the Force was uncomfortable with citizens recording them.
Responding, the police spokesman said the IGP had not rejected the practice of recording officers generally.
He also disclosed that body cameras were part of ongoing discussions on modern and accountable policing.
“Body cameras are, in fact, part of the broader conversation about modern, accountable policing, and they can protect both citizens and officers,” Giwa said.
The Force spokesman urged Nigerians to engage the police on the issue without insults, saying both sides ultimately share the objective of achieving a more professional police institution and a safer country.
He also rejected attempts to portray the issue as a confrontation between the police and citizens or between the IGP and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Instead, he said the debate should focus on balancing accountability with responsibility, transparency with privacy, and citizens’ rights with the professional discharge of police duties.
The clarification followed a recent courtesy visit by NBA leadership to the IGP at Force Headquarters, Abuja, where the issue of recording police officers was discussed.
Disu had earlier expressed concern about Nigerians recording police officers, particularly for social media skits, describing the practice as demoralising to members of the Force.
The IGP, however, acknowledged that citizens had the right to record officers performing their duties in public places.
“We are not saying they cannot exercise their rights of recording officers in the public places while doing their jobs,” Disu said.
“But they should put restraints and not turn our police officers to content for their skits or anything,” he added.
His comments triggered reactions from lawyers, human rights advocates and other Nigerians, with some insisting that citizens should be allowed to document police activities in public.
NBA President, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, had also called for a distinction between legitimate recording of police activities and intrusion into officers’ private lives.
The controversy also followed a March 17 judgment of the Federal High Court in Warri, Delta State, which, according to the report, affirmed Nigerians’ right to record police officers while they are performing their duties in public.
Giwa said the engagement between the IGP and NBA leadership demonstrated that institutions could disagree while still finding ways to engage constructively.
He said the solution in the digital age was not to fear cameras but to ensure that technology was used responsibly.
“The camera should not weaken the institution. Also, institutions should not fear legitimate scrutiny. Both must ultimately serve the truth, justice, and the Nigerian people,” he said.
