The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has warned the Nigeria Police Force against intimidating citizens who document police activities in public, saying such actions could undermine accountability and weaken confidence in the country’s democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The association also condemned the reported killing of a popular Kano-based social media political commentator, Ibrahim Khalil Dan Shagamu, urging the police to urgently investigate the circumstances surrounding his death and prosecute anyone found responsible.

In separate statements issued by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA criticised the reported position of the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, that citizens recording police officers while performing their duties could amount to an invasion of privacy.

The association described the position as inconsistent with constitutional rights, democratic policing and global best practices.

HURIWA argued that a police officer performing official duties in a public space could not reasonably expect the same level of privacy as a private citizen in his home or other genuinely private environment.

It said the right of citizens to observe and record public officials performing their duties was an important accountability mechanism that should not be criminalised through administrative pronouncements.

The association cited the judgment of the Federal High Court, Warri, in Maxwell Nosakhare Uwaifo v. Inspector-General of Police & Ors (FHC/WR/CS/87/2025), which it said affirmed the right of citizens to record police officers performing public duties.

HURIWA said the judgment reinforced the constitutional protection available to citizens who document the conduct of public officials in the discharge of their responsibilities.

It warned that attempts by police officers to prevent citizens from peacefully recording their activities in public, intimidate them, threaten them or seize their phones merely because they are documenting police operations would raise serious constitutional concerns.

According to the association, Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, while public institutions, particularly security agencies vested with coercive powers, must remain subject to legitimate public scrutiny.

HURIWA also rejected what it described as a casual invocation of Section 37 of the Constitution to place police officers performing public duties beyond public observation.

The association said privacy should not become a shield for public officials seeking to avoid legitimate scrutiny while exercising public power.

It stressed, however, that the right to record public officials was not an unlimited licence to invade private life, noting that police officers, like every other citizen, retained their constitutional right to privacy when off duty and engaged in genuinely private activities.

HURIWA said the distinction between public duty and private life was therefore crucial.

It added that recording a police officer performing a public duty was not, by itself, an act of obstruction, harassment or criminality.

Where a citizen obstructed a police operation, interfered with an investigation or unlawfully entered a restricted area, the association acknowledged that the relevant law could apply.

But it maintained that merely holding a phone and documenting police activities from a lawful position should not automatically constitute an offence.

The association urged the police authorities to clarify their position and ensure that officers did not interpret any directive on privacy as a licence to confiscate phones, delete recordings, threaten citizens or prevent the documentation of police activities carried out in public.

HURIWA further urged the Nigeria Police Force to embrace body-worn cameras and other transparent recording mechanisms as part of modern policing, rather than treating citizens’ cameras as threats.

It said advanced democratic jurisdictions were increasingly using technology to promote police accountability, adding that Nigerian citizens should not be discouraged from documenting police conduct when law enforcement agencies themselves were expected globally to preserve evidence of interactions with members of the public.

The association linked the issue of police accountability to the wider protection of civic freedoms, particularly as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 elections.

HURIWA expressed concern over the reported killing of Dan Shagamu, saying the incident was particularly disturbing at a time when citizens expressing independent political opinions were increasingly facing threats and intimidation.

It said Amnesty International Nigeria had confirmed that the commentator was killed and that his body was found in a pool of blood at his home in Kano.

HURIWA noted that the circumstances and motive for the killing remained unclear, urging the authorities to ensure that speculation did not replace a credible investigation.

The association said human rights defenders, civil society activists, journalists and political commentators had continued to face threats and attempts to silence them whenever they challenged powerful interests or spoke against perceived abuses.

It added that some of its members and associates had also faced threats to their lives because of their advocacy.

HURIWA warned that if Shagamu’s killing was established to have been politically motivated, it would represent a dangerous escalation in attempts to intimidate independent voices ahead of the 2027 elections.

The association called on the Inspector-General of Police to ensure a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing, identify the perpetrators and ensure that anyone found culpable was arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

It also urged the Federal and state governments to take credible measures to protect journalists, human rights defenders, social media commentators and other citizens exercising their right to free expression.

HURIWA called on the European Union, the United Nations and other international partners to monitor Nigeria’s human rights situation as the country approaches the 2027 elections and engage the authorities on the protection of civic space and political freedoms.

The association warned that democracy could not survive in an environment where citizens were forced to choose between silence and personal safety.

HURIWA said the police could not demand accountability from citizens while resisting the cameras capable of providing an independent record of their conduct.

It maintained that the police belong to the public, exercise public power and must therefore remain subject to legitimate public scrutiny.

The association urged the police authorities to distinguish clearly between the legitimate recording of public power and unlawful invasion of private life, saying Nigeria’s democracy would be strengthened when citizens could peacefully document the conduct of public officials without intimidation.