Egbetokun’s Empty, Unenforceable Directive

Nigerians are not new to the rhetoric of the successive Inspector Generals of Police on the dressing code of armed policemen. 

So when they heard about the directive by the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Kayode Egbetokun, to police officers not to bear assault rifles when dressed in mufti, they immediately concluded that it would follow a similar pattern.

According to the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the IG, who gave the directive during a virtual meeting, warned all tactical squads against the misuse of power and improper dressing, emphasising the importance of operating in approved uniforms.

“No operative should be seen carrying assault arms (rifles) while dressed in civilian attire (mufti),” the IG said

Nigerians have experienced brutality and other forms of rights violations, especially by the police officers attached to the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The SARS officers, often dressed in mufti, were heavily armed, appearing like kidnappers with no form of clear identification tags that could help in tracing their bases. That was why they easily committed a lot of atrocious acts without being held to account.

Their reign of brutality fuelled the #EndSARS protests which later turned violent in some cities in Nigeria. 

Though SARS was disbanded, heavily armed police personnel still dress roughly in mufti, and most times in commercial buses and other unmarked vehicles that hide their identities.

With their rifles, they harass and arrest Nigerians in gestapo-style.

Successive IGs had warned against this improper dressing but the practice persisted.

Heavily armed policemen not only wear mufti with no form of identification, they also wear masks making it impossible to differentiate them from criminals.

The police authorities had also on many occasions ordered the withdrawal of the Mobile Police Force personnel attached to several Very Important Persons (VIPs) and the disbandment of roadblocks on major roads. But the more these orders or directives are given, the more Nigerians see a detachment of policemen with these VIPs and more roadblocks mounted on the roads.

This is why many Nigerians believe that IG Egbetokun’s latest directive is another empty rhetoric that won’t be adhered to.