Outrage is growing over the right of Nigerians to record police officers while performing their duties in public, as human rights groups and the African Action Congress backed the position of the Nigerian Bar Association against attempts to restrict the practice.
The development followed a recent clash of positions between the NBA President, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, and the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, over the extent to which members of the public can film police officers.
The NBA president had backed citizens’ right to record police officers performing their duties in public, while calling for clearer rules to protect officers from unnecessary intrusion into their private lives.
The position followed a March 17 judgment of the Federal High Court in Warri, Delta State, which affirmed Nigerians’ constitutional right to record police officers while they perform their duties in public.
Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, in the judgment in a suit filed by a lawyer, Maxwell Uwaifo, also directed police officers to display their names and force numbers during public operations.
