Spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force Frank Mba on Monday warned Nigerians against uttering provocative statements to a police officer as it is a recipe to disaster.

“Don’t dare or challenge an armed security man to a duel. Oftentimes, you hear people say things like ‘shoot me, if you can!” Note that this is a recipe for disaster!,” Frank Mba said in his debut post for “Improving police-citizens relationship: tips for safe and cordial interactions” series.

In Nigeria, the police-citizens relationship is in its most abysmal state.

Between March and April 2019, about nine persons died in different parts of Nigeria as a result of misuse of firearms by police personnel.

Death after death, the Nigerian government and the police authorities assured Nigerians of better conduct from police officers.

However, Mba, the spokesman for the police suggested that these disasters are related to the conduct and utterances of citizens when interacting with police officers.

“Endeavour to be polite even when answering questions put to you by the officers,” Mba said.

“Avoid unnecessary argument with armed security personnel. There are a thousand and one ways to seek redress where you feel your rights have been infringed upon.”

Mba said it “is very provocative and an unnecessary call for war. So, please play safe, more so, as you do not know the state of mind of the officer concerned.”

He also warned Nigerians not to go into a physical fight with an armed security officer as “he may resort to the use of his weapon (rightly or wrongly) to defend himself.”

Mba while expressing concerns on the state of the police-citizens relationship in Nigeria, said it was disheartening that the mere sight of the police that ought to generate an instant feeling of relief for citizens, safety and security was far from the reality.

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