- Safiu Kehinde
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has decried the trend of indiscriminate recording of police officers on duty by citizens.
Disu, in a press briefing held on Wednesday expressed his displeasure with the trend which, according to him, has become a subject of concern withing the force.
He described the act as embarrassing to police officers who are now targeted by citizens seeking to record them.
‘Can we record you in the courtroom? We were discussing it yesterday. We discussed issues of our officers, people coming to them with concealed cameras.
‘We checked the law. Our DIG on Research and Planning came up with a lot of write-ups. He cited a lot of authorities?
‘The recent judgement on recording of police officers, that actually jolted our officers, and it became something of concern to us.
‘Citizens have started coming out with their phones to record police officers anywhere they see them. This can be embarrassing.’ He said.
Disu cited cases of officers being recorded while eating in restaurants.
This, according to the police chief is demoralising to the men in uniform.
‘Some people even went to restaurant to record police officers where they are eating. This is something that is very demoralising to us.
‘We are doing a very difficult job and we need all the concentration in the world to be able to do our jobs.’ He said.
While the fundamental rights of citizens, Disu called for the restraint in recording police officers as he warned against turning the personnel into online contents.
‘We are not saying they cannot exercise their rights. But in recording officers in public places while doing their jobs, they should put restraint and not turn our police officers to content for their skits.
‘If you look at where we have our officers in checking points, they are dangerous areas thick in the forest, on the highways, and middle of nowhere.
‘These officers will stay there morning and night, doing their jobs to keep others safe.’ He said.