The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chairman of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), Dr Rufus Egbagba, has condemned the growing practice of residents and social media influencers filming police officers during their private moments, particularly while eating at restaurants.
Egbagba, who spoke at the PCRC office in Abuja on Thursday, was reacting to a trending video of some police officers allegedly recorded while eating at a restaurant in Kubwa area of Abuja by a resident.
He expressed concern over what he described as the growing trend of recording police officers during stop-and-search operations and, in some cases, while they were simply going about their personal lives.
According to him, the practice raises important questions about accountability, privacy and the proper conduct of police-public interactions.
He said the recent position of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Rilwan Olatunji, should not be misinterpreted as an attempt to shield erring officers from accountability or as a directive against recording police misconduct.
‘The IGP has never said that officers who act wrongly should not be recorded or reported. What is being called for is responsible engagement. Officers performing their lawful duties should be able to do so without unnecessary provocation, obstruction, or having every encounter turned into content for views and engagement,’ he said.
According to him, where an officer is believed to have acted improperly, the appropriate response remains to preserve the evidence and report the matter through the proper channel.
He said the Nigeria Police Force has a Police Complaint Response Unit (PCRU), where complaints against officers could be lodged and videos and other evidence submitted for investigation and appropriate action.
‘At least, social media exposure should complement, not substitute for, formal investigation. A short video clip may not always capture the full context of an incident: what led up to it, what was said off-camera, or what followed. Yet once published, it can quickly shape public judgment against an individual officer or the force as a whole, before the facts are established,’ he said.
Egbagba noted that like any large institution, the police force has its share of bad actors, stressing that their conduct should never be excused.
He, however, said the repeated recording and circulation of the misconduct of a few officers could create a distorted impression that such behaviour defines the entire Nigeria Police Force.
‘And this does little to serve genuine accountability, and it can also affect how Nigeria is perceived internationally.
‘There is also a human dimension to this that deserves attention,’ he added.
The PCRC chairman observed that some officers are posted to remote, isolated and genuinely dangerous locations, often far from their families and under difficult conditions.
He said such officers rely on morale and public goodwill to sustain them in service, adding that filming officers without their consent for entertainment or content purposes during ordinary, off-duty moments, such as while eating at a restaurant, could undermine their morale.
He said the ultimate objective should be accountability rather than sensationalism, adding that where an officer acts wrongly, evidence should be preserved and reported through the appropriate channel so that the relevant authority can investigate and take necessary action.