Police react to court judgement on Nigerians’ right to film officers on duty

The Head of Complaint Response Unit (CRU) of the police, Anietie Iniedu, has said a recent court judgement affirming Nigerians’ right to film police activity will improve policing in the country.

Mr Aniedu, a chief superintendent of police, disclosed this in a post on LinkedIn on Monday.

In March, a Federal High Court in Warri, Delta State, ruled that Nigerians have the constitutional right to record police officers performing their duties in public.

In the ruling which set a major precedent for accountability and civil liberties, the judge, H. A. Nganjiwa, emphasised that police officers must wear visible name tags, display their force numbers, and refrain from harassing, intimidating, arresting, or confiscating devices from citizens who record their actions.

The judgement followed a suit that was filed as a public interest litigation by Maxwell Uwaifo, challenging the legality of police stop-and-search operations conducted without officers displaying name tags or force numbers.

The court awarded the applicant, Mr Uwaifo, N5 million for the violation of his fundamental rights and an additional N2 million for litigation costs.

Mr Aniedu said the judgement will strengthen police accountability in the country.

“By awarding N5 million damages for unlawful stop-and-search operations, the Federal High Court established that transparency is a constitutional right, not a privilege,” he said.

He said the CRU police unit considers the judgement as “transformative” because

video recordings eliminate reliance on secondary sources and “enable faster, fact-based investigations.”

“The CRU-Nigeria’s internal police oversight mechanism with presence in all 36 states plus FCT-now has judicial backing to treat video evidence as legitimate complaint documentation.

“This shifts the CRU from reactive complaint-handling to proactive accountability facilitation,” the police chief said.

Mr Aniedu stressed that the court judgement mandating police officers to wear visible name tags and display their force numbers “addresses anonymous abuse.”

“With UNODC support and US funding, the CRU is expanding capacity. This judgement provides the legal foundation to maximise that investment,” he said.

The police chief noted that officers who assault Nigerians for recording reveal fear of accountability, not security concerns.

“The CRU must lead transformation through mandatory training, consequence certainty for violations, and public awareness campaigns.

“Justice Nganjiwa’s ruling is an institutional mandate, not merely a legal victory,” he said.

“The CRU must now operationalize transparency to build the professional, accountable police force Nigerians deserve.”

In December 2023, the Nigeria Police Force publicly confirmed that citizens can record officers on duty.

In a post on X, the then-Force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, stated that filming or photographing officers is not an offence and that harassment of those recording constitutes misconduct.

Despite repeated incidents of police brutality, particularly during stop-and-search operations, the proliferation of smartphones has made recording encounters increasingly common.

A video circulating on social media captured a tense confrontation between a police officer in Lagos and a driver wearing smart glasses, spotlighting ongoing challenges in enforcing professional conduct.

The police later condemned the officer’s actions, promising disciplinary measures, and reiterated that recording police officers on duty is lawful.