Stop Recording Police Officers For Skits, IGP Disu Warns Nigerians

The Inspector General of Police, IGP Tunji Disu, has cautioned Nigerians against recording policemen on duty and turning them into skit content, stressing that the act is demoralizing.

Disu said police officers need concentration to carry out their duties and should not be distracted by video recordings from members of the public.

The IGP spoke at a press conference in Abuja while reacting to a judgment of a Federal High Court in Warri, Delta State, which affirmed that Nigerians have the constitutional right to record police officers performing public duties in public spaces.

In the landmark ruling delivered on March 17, 2026, in suit number FHC/WR/CS/87/2025, Justice H. A. Nganjiwa held that arresting, harassing, intimidating, or seizing devices from individuals solely for filming police activity violates Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression.

However, Disu said the judgment has led to indiscriminate recording of officers, which he described as embarrassing.

“Can we come to your offices and record you in your offices? Can we record even in the court? We were discussing it yesterday and spoke about people coming to our offices with unsealed cameras,” the IGP said.

“We checked the law and our officers came up with write ups, citing a lot of authorities. The recent judgment on the recording of police officers became something of concern to us because the citizens started coming out with their phones to record police officers everywhere and this can be embarrassing.

“Some even went to restaurants and started recording police officers. Everywhere they see a police officer they start recording and this is very demoralizing to us,” he added.

Disu said policing is a difficult job that requires full concentration.

“We are doing very difficult jobs and we need all the concentration in the world to be able to do our jobs. We are not saying they can’t exercise their rights of recording officers in public places while doing their jobs but they should put restraint and not turn our police officers into content for their skit or anything,” he said.

The police boss noted that officers are often deployed to dangerous and isolated locations to ensure public safety.

“If you look at where we have our officers, they are dangerous areas thick in the forest, thick in the bushes and on the highways. In the middle of nowhere these officers will stay there morning and night to do their jobs of keeping other people safe,” Disu stated.