SHOULD Nigerians record police officers?
The question might not have become a national talking point if the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, had not described the growing practice of recording police officers as “very, very demoralising.”
Disu said recently in Abuja that the police were now being filmed everywhere, including in restaurants, with the footage turned into social-media content.
Disu is right about one thing: police officers should not become unwilling actors in skits.
Citizens should not harass them or invade their privacy. Like other citizens, police officers are entitled to reasonable privacy and dignity.
But the IG is wrong if he is warning citizens against documenting police performing public duties in public places.
The law is very clear on that question.
In March, the Federal High Court sitting in Warri, Delta State, affirmed the right of Nigerians to record police officers performing their duties in public.
Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa
This post was originally published on this site.
