Police Must Wear Uniforms When Conducting Stop-And-Search Operations

Officers conducting stop-and-search operations are required by the Nigeria Police Force to wear uniforms with their names attached.

This statement was posted on Monday by Muyiwa Adejobi, the Force Police Public Relations Officer, on his X handle.

The force spokesperson was responding to a video that showed four police officers on Lekki-Epe Express Way stopping a driver while wearing muftis.

When the officers went up to get his tinted permit, he asked for their identities because he didn’t see anything that would suggest they were police officers.

But, reacting to the development, Adejobi said the policemen “have been traced to Zone 2 and identified,” adding that “the AIG Zone 2 Lagos is investigating, while the PPRO Zone 2 will speak to it as soon as possible.”

He said the NPF had ordered that any policeman embarking on routine patrol or stop-and-search must be in uniform, properly dressed, and easily identified.

Adejobi maintained that it is not ideal to be on patrol while in mufti, saying policemen misbehave when they know their identities are hidden and unknown.

“You will recall that we have ordered and announced that any policeman embarking on routine patrol or stop and search must be in uniform, properly dressed, and easily identified. It’s not ideal to carry out a stop and search in mufti.

“The audacity to misbehave or carry out unprofessional conduct comes when you know your identity is hidden and unknown. I still reiterate that policemen on stop and search and routine patrol must be in uniform. That is the standard in the police,” Adejobi said.

He added that “policemen in mufti are supposed to be on surveillance or undercover and not to be seen with long-range guns or rifles.

“This is what our DPOs and HODs should emphasise and enforce to bring sanity and standardisation.”