This is what our DPOs and HODs should emphasise and enforce to bring sanity and standardisation.”
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The Nigeria Police Force has announced that all police officers conducting routine patrol or stop-and-search operations must be in uniform in order to make them identifiable.
The Force Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi made the disclosure on Monday, January 29, 2024, in a statement posted on his X account.
Adejobi was responding to a viral video that showed four police officers in an unmarked white bus on Lekki-Epe Express Way ordering an on-air-personality to give the access to his vehicle while wearing muftis.
When an argument ensued between the two parties, the officers demanded for the motorist’s tinted permit, but the latter declined, saying it was not against the law not to own one.
He also demanded that they identify themselves because kidnappers are on the prowl and there was nothing to suggest they were truly police officials.
Reacting to the development, Adejobi said the policemen in the video have been identified and traced to Zone 2 and were under investigation.
“The AIG Zone 2 Lagos is investigating, while the PPRO Zone 2 will speak on it as soon as possible,” he wrote.
He reiterated that the NPF had mandated that all police officers conducting routine patrol or stop-and-search operations to be identifiable and appropriately attired in uniform.
This, he continued, will put them in check, knowing that they are identifiable if they will behave or act inappropriately.
The Force spokesperson said “You will recall that we have ordered and announced that any policeman embarking on routine patrol or stop and search must be in uniform, properly dressed, and easily identified. It’s not ideal to carry out a stop-and-search in mufti.
“The audacity to misbehave or carry out unprofessional conduct comes when you know your identity is hidden and unknown. I still reiterate that policemen on stop and search and routine patrol must be in uniform. That is the standard in the police.”
On undercover agents, he explained that “policemen in mufti are supposed to be on surveillance or undercover and not to be seen with long-range guns or rifles.
“This is what our DPOs and HODs should emphasise and enforce to bring sanity and standardisation.