The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has weighed in on the controversy surrounding recent comments by Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu, saying media reports claiming he ordered officers to “shoot on sight” anyone carrying illegal firearms went further than what he actually said, even as the group warned that his language was loose enough to be dangerously misread.
The row began after Disu addressed a stakeholders’ meeting in Makurdi, Benue State, where he told officers, “Every one of you who have picked up a weapon, you have become a target.” He added that police are “the only ones recognised to carry arms around,” and, invoking Force Order 237, said officers “don’t need to wait for any superior order” because they have “been trained to do what is necessary.”
Those comments were widely reported as a directive to shoot anyone found with a weapon, prompting the police force to issue a rebuttal. Force spokesman CSP Ani Iniedu denied any “shoot-on-sight” order had been given, saying the Inspector-General was simply restating the rules already laid out in Force Order 237, and that officers are still expected to act “professionally, lawfully, and with respect for human rights.”
RULAAC said it welcomed that clarification, noting it was important for the force to publicly reaffirm that officers remain bound by Force Order 237, the Constitution, and the Nigeria Police Act 2020. But the group argued the clarification doesn’t fully settle the matter.
After reviewing the Inspector-General’s full remarks, RULAAC concluded he did not explicitly order officers to shoot every person found with a weapon — and that early media coverage overstated what he actually said. Still, the group said the phrasing he used was broad enough to invite dangerous interpretation.
Telling officers that anyone who has “picked up a weapon” is now “a target,” while also reminding them they don’t need approval before using their firearms, could be read by some in the field as a license to use lethal force without weighing the legal limits that are supposed to apply, RULAAC said.
The group stressed that in a country with a well-documented history of unlawful police killings, statements from the force’s top leadership carry outsized weight. Ambiguous language, it warned, can function as informal operational guidance for rank-and-file officers with or without that intent.
RULAAC pointed out that neither the Constitution nor the Nigeria Police Act 2020 permits officers to shoot someone simply for possessing a firearm, licensed or not. Under Force Order 237 and international standards such as the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms, lethal force is only justified when it’s unavoidable to stop an imminent threat to life, and when less extreme measures won’t work.
Illegal possession of a firearm, the group noted, is a crime that calls for arrest and prosecution, not summary execution.
RULAAC is calling on the Inspector-General to go further than the police force’s initial clarification and publicly confirm several points: that no shoot-on-sight policy exists; that officers remain bound by Force Order 237, the Constitution, and Nigeria’s human rights obligations; that possessing a firearm alone doesn’t justify lethal force; that deadly force is a last resort against an imminent threat to life; and that every police shooting resulting in death or injury should be independently investigated, with accountability for officers who use excessive force.
The group also urged the force to use the controversy as a springboard for renewed training on the lawful use of firearms, built around the principles of necessity, proportionality and accountability.
RULAAC acknowledged the scale of Nigeria’s security challenges, including armed groups that kidnap, kill and terrorise communities, and said officers have every right to defend themselves and the public against genuine deadly threats. But it insisted that effective policing and respect for human rights aren’t in tension — arguing that public trust in the force depends on officers operating strictly within the law, even while confronting armed criminals decisively.
“Only policing that faithfully observes these principles can guarantee both public safety and public trust,” the group said in its statement. #Securitynewsalert.com
