ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, has urged Nigerians to exercise restraint in recording police officers, particularly where such videos are intended for skits or online content.
Disu said the growing practice had become demoralising for members of the force, especially as officers deployed to difficult and dangerous locations continued to carry out their duties under challenging conditions.
The police chief spoke in Abuja during a meeting with the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, and members of the NBA executive committee.
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According to Punch, the meeting was convened as part of efforts by the police and the legal profession to address recurring disputes between lawyers and police officers.
Disu said a recent court judgment concerning the recording of police officers had generated concern within the force, with some members of the public subsequently taking to recording officers wherever they encountered them.
He said the trend had gone beyond documenting police operations in public spaces, alleging that some people now deliberately approached officers in places such as restaurants to record them.
According to the IGP, such conduct was demoralising to officers who were already working under difficult conditions.
He, however, acknowledged that Nigerians had a right to record police officers while carrying out their duties in public, stressing that the right should be exercised responsibly.
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“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.”
The IGP pointed to the conditions under which many officers operate, particularly those stationed at checkpoints and isolated locations on highways.
He said officers were often deployed to dangerous areas, including forested and bushy locations, where they remained for extended periods while providing security for the public.
“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.
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Disu’s position received support from the NBA president, who also cautioned against recording officers when they were engaged in private activities.
Badejo-Okusanya said there was a need to distinguish between legitimate documentation of police activities and an invasion of officers’ privacy.
She cited instances where police officers sitting down to eat had allegedly been recorded by members of the public without regard for their privacy.
At the same time, however, she maintained that the ability to record police officers while they lawfully perform their duties should not be discouraged because it can promote transparency and accountability.
“We should not be afraid of being transparent in the lawful execution of our duties,” she said.
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The NBA president referred to the use of body cameras by police officers in the United States, saying such technology provides an additional layer of accountability during police operations.
According to her, recordings of official police activities can help establish what happened during an encounter and make it easier to identify officers who engage in misconduct.
She therefore argued that the solution was not an outright restriction on recording police officers, but the establishment of clearer boundaries governing how and where such recordings should be made and used.
“We just need to understand the limits,” Badejo-Okusanya said, adding that existing laws could be strengthened or properly interpreted to prevent the privilege from being abused.
She further called for closer cooperation between lawyers and the police, describing both professions as partners in the effort to build a safe society governed by respect for the rule of law.