A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has challenged the position of the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, on the recording of police officers while performing their duties in public.
Effiong argued that Nigerians have a constitutional right to record law enforcement officers in public, particularly when they are carrying out their statutory responsibilities.
The lawyer spoke on Friday during an interview with Channels Television while reacting to Disu’s recent warning against using police officers as subjects for social media skits.
Disu had described the practice as “very, very demoralising” to members of the force, while clarifying that his concern was not with citizens’ right to record police officers but with turning policemen into sources of social media content.
However, Effiong questioned the scope of the IGP’s definition of content creation and the basis for restricting the recording of officers in public.
He asked whether content creation should be defined by the pursuit of financial gain or by the dissemination of information for public enlightenment.
“What is content creation? Is it materials generated and disseminated or published or circulated for revenue generation? Or is it simply posting information for public enlightenment?
“What is the determining factor? Is it the quest for financial gain or public enlightenment? And who is the content creator?” he asked.
Effiong further argued that the Nigeria Police Force could itself be regarded as a content-creating institution because of its extensive use of digital and broadcast platforms.
He noted that the force operates social media accounts, a website and a radio station through which it generates and disseminates information.
“Because if you examine the phrase content creator and content creation broadly, one can say that even the police itself is a content-creating institution,” he said.
The lawyer therefore called for clarity on what the IGP intended by his warning against using police officers for content creation.
According to him, the directive could have a different implication if it was specifically targeted at skit makers, entertainers and pranksters who use humorous videos as a source of income.
“So when the IG speaks about using policemen for content creation, it is important for us to be cautious. Is it referring to skit makers, entertainers or pranksters who are individuals who make a career or make a living from making comical contents and reproducing them online to generate traffic as a source of living?” Effiong asked.
He also questioned the police authorities’ concern about citizens filming officers while they are on duty.
“The question is, why is the police constantly fidgeting over the recording of their officers in the course of their duties?” he said.
Disu had reportedly cited instances of police officers being filmed while eating as part of his concerns over the practice.
Effiong, however, said he had not seen evidence that such incidents were widespread on social media and challenged the police to provide examples supporting the concern.
“He cited an instance where he said police officers would be eating and people would be filming them. I haven’t seen that being a practice that is rampant on social media,” he said.
The lawyer maintained that, beyond the issue of social media skits, citizens are entitled to document the activities of law enforcement officers while they are performing public duties.
“But speaking generally, Nigerians have the right, unmistakably, to record incidents. Not just the police, but law enforcement officers generally, in the course of discharging their statutory responsibility,” Effiong said.
He anchored the position on Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and the dissemination of information.
“That freedom includes the freedom to disseminate and propagate ideas and information,” he said.
Effiong added that the constitutional protection should extend to the means through which citizens communicate and disseminate information, including mobile phones and other electronic devices.