New Police Directive: No Uniform Photos Online, No Carrying VIPs’ Bags or Umbrellas

The Inspector General of Police has reaffirmed a strict directive barring officers from posting photographs of themselves in uniform on social media. This directive, which also prohibits the online sharing of official police documents and forbids officers from carrying bags or umbrellas for Very Important Persons (VIPs), was recently reiterated in an internal memo.

According to a wireless message dated May 3, 2025, and seen online, the instruction was sent to all personnel of the Police Mobile Force, No. 13PMF Squadron in Makurdi, Benue State. The memo, signed by ACP Hassan S. Aliyu, the squadron’s commanding officer, conveyed the Inspector General’s stance clearly.

The message stated that any police personnel found using photographs of themselves in uniform on social media would face severe sanctions. It also warned officers assigned to VIPs not to carry their luggage or umbrellas under any circumstances.

This directive follows increased public scrutiny of the police’s public image, particularly on social media, where officers have frequently been captured in subservient or compromising situations—often while serving high-profile individuals and politicians.

One recent viral video showed officers from the Mobile Police (MOPOL) unit attached to a Chinese mining company receiving N5,000 each from foreign nationals. The footage, which featured a Chinese man along with a woman and a young girl—reportedly his family members—distributing cash to the officers, sparked backlash online. The police, however, defended the incident, stating the money was a token of appreciation, not a bribe.