Legal practitioner Inibehe Effiong has disagreed with the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, over his warning against Nigerians recording police officers for social media skits.
Effiong argued that the Nigeria Police Force itself could be described as a content-creating institution, given the various platforms it operates to produce and disseminate information.
The lawyer spoke on Friday during an interview on Channels Television, where he questioned the basis of the IGP’s warning.
Disu had cautioned Nigerians against recording police officers for skits, describing the practice as “very, very demoralising” to members of the force.
The IGP, however, clarified that his concern was not about citizens’ right to record police officers, but about the use of policemen as sources of entertainment content on social media.
Reacting, Effiong questioned what should be regarded as content creation and whether the defining factor should be financial gain or 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?” he asked.
He added, “What is the determining factor? Is it the quest for financial gain or public enlightenment? And who is the content creator?”
Effiong said the broad definition of content creation could equally apply to the police, noting that the force operates several platforms through which it produces and distributes 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.
According to him, the police operates social media platforms, a website and a radio station, all of which are used to create and disseminate content.
“The reason is that the police owns and operates different platforms through which contents are created and disseminated, including the police social media handles, the website of the police, and other platforms, and even the police radio,” he said.
The lawyer said the police should therefore clarify the specific activities targeted by the IGP’s warning.
He questioned whether the warning was aimed specifically at skit makers, entertainers and pranksters who produce humorous content online 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?” he asked.
Effiong also questioned the police’s apparent concern about citizens recording officers while they are performing their official duties.
“The question is, why is the police constantly fidgeting over the recording of their officers in the course of their duties?” he asked.
Disu had cited instances in which police officers were allegedly filmed while eating as part of his concerns about 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.
“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 Nigerians have a constitutional right to record law enforcement officers while they are carrying out their duties in public.
“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,” he said.
Effiong cited Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, arguing that the right includes the freedom to disseminate information and ideas.
“That freedom includes the freedom to disseminate and propagate ideas and information,” he said.
He further argued that the constitutional protection extends to the means through which information is recorded and disseminated, including mobile phones and other electronic devices.
He maintained that, within Nigeria’s constitutional framework, citizens should be allowed to record police officers and other law enforcement personnel in public places while they are carrying out their official responsibilities.
