The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, has issued a sweeping directive to Commissioners of Police nationwide, ordering an immediate end to extortion, illegal checkpoints, harassment of citizens and other misconducts.

He declared that restoring public confidence in the Nigeria Police Force is now a top operational priority.

The order was contained in a signal to members of the police management team including Commissioners of Police (CP) and other operational commanders.

In the marching order, the IGP acknowledged the deep mistrust many Nigerians feel toward officers, describing it as “painful” and unacceptable.

He said citizens now fear encounters with the police as much as they fear criminals, warning that such a reputation cannot continue under his leadership.

According to him, the directive marks the beginning of a determined effort to rebuild discipline within the police and re-establish its legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

The order specifically outlawed the routine collection of money from motorists on highways, the operation of unauthorised checkpoints, and the practice of arresting citizens and forcing them to withdraw cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) or Point of Sale (PoS) devices.

The IGP also condemned the use of officers for private duties in homes and businesses, describing such deployments as abuse of authority and a violation of existing presidential directives on VIP protection.

Officers were further directed to comply strictly with approved dress codes, remain clean-shaven and adhere to established uniform regulations.

The police boss warned that harassment of citizens in any form would no longer be tolerated, stressing that the Nigerian public is not the enemy of the Force but the reason for its existence. At the same time, he assured officers that the institution would equally defend them against intimidation or disrespect from members of the public, noting that the dignity of the uniform must be protected on both sides.

Holding command leaders directly accountable, the IGP said Commissioners of Police would henceforth be responsible for misconduct within their jurisdictions.

He ordered them to demonstrate measurable improvements in discipline within seven days or face formal queries and possible transfers where lapses persist.

He emphasised that supervisory failure would no longer be ignored at any level of leadership. To ensure compliance, the directive introduced new oversight measures, including independent monitoring of field operations and public reporting channels through which citizens can lodge complaints directly with Force Headquarters.

A Citizens Commendation System will also be established to recognise officers who demonstrate professionalism, with monthly honours to be drawn from public nominations across commands.

Describing the directive as a decisive turning point, the police chief said Nigerians have grown weary of promises and now expect visible change. He ordered all commanders to brief personnel under their authority within 72 hours and confirm compliance in writing, declaring that the process of cleaning up the Force has begun and will be sustained until public trust is restored.

The Osun State House of Assembly members have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of planning to compromise the August 15 governorship election by making use of the members snd loyalists of the All Progressives Congress as electoral officials.

A majority 24 out of the 26 lawmakers, under the ruling Accord Party, made this allegation while addressing journalists at the Assembly complex in Osogbo.

This is also as the legislators linked the sudden redeployment of Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun, Mutiu Agboke, to the influence and pressure by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola.

Addresing the media, the Speaker of the House, Adewale Egbedun, demanded free and fair election, noting that the legislative arm would not tolerate any form of electoral manipulation.

“It has come to our notice that there has been a sudden redeployment of the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Osun State. We also have credible information that further deployments of interested people are being planned and may extend to other key officials, including the Administrative Secretary, Electoral Officers, Assistant Electoral Officers, and ICT personnel across the State.

We are particularly concerned by a deliberate pattern of actions aimed at influencing the electoral process in Osun State.

It is instructive to note that Ekiti State, which precedes Osun in the electoral calendar, has not witnessed such widespread deployments of electoral officials. This raises serious and legitimate questions. Why Osun State?,” Egbedun wondered.

Insisting that Agboke’s removal was facilitated by Oyetola, the Speaker said, “We state clearly that we have credible information linking these developments to the actions and influence of Mr Gboyega Oyetola.”

He warned, “Let it be clearly stated that no amount of administrative changes or deployments of interested officials will override the will of the people of Osun State.

These calculated efforts, no matter how structured, cannot alter the resolve of our people. The people of Osun State are politically conscious, vigilant, and determined to ensure that their votes count and reflect their true choice.”

Alleging of plans to recruit APC loyalists as INEC officials ahead of the poll, Egbedun stated, “We have also received credible reports that in parts of the State, particularly within the Ife Ijesa Senatorial District, there are plans to compromise the process through the use of APC members in critical electoral roles such as returning officers and supervisors. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We are placing the public on notice.”

The lawmakers further warned that the deployment of a new REC to Osun would be in accordance with the law, adding, “Let it be made unequivocally clear that whoever is deployed to conduct elections in Osun State must do so in strict accordance with the Constitution and the law. The election must be free, fair, and credible. Anything short of this will be firmly resisted by Osun people.”

They also called the attention of the international community, development partners, and all observers of democratic governance to these developments in Osun State as they unfold, saying, “We speak as representatives of the people of Osun State. All we ask for, and all we insist on, is a free, fair, and credible election.

Let it be known that Osun State is politically aware, vigilant, and deeply committed to democratic values. The people of this State will not accept any action, from any quarter, that undermines the credibility of the electoral process.”

The All Progressives Congress and the New Nigeria Peoples Party had petitioned the National Chairman of INEC, Joash Amupitan against Agboke, accusing him of partisan conducts ahead of the August 15 governorship election in the state.

Terrorists in northeast Nigeria killed a brigadier general in an assault on a military base, a local government chairman told AFP on Thursday, the second killing of a high-ranking officer in five months.

Africa’s most populous country has been fighting a terrorist insurgency for 17 years, since Boko Haram’s 2009 uprising, which has seen the emergence of powerful splinter groups, including Islamic State West Africa Province.

In an overnight attack, unidentified terrorists killed at least 18 soldiers and torched vehicles at a base in Benisheikh, about 75 kilometres from Borno state capital Maiduguri, an intelligence source told AFP.

“Unfortunately, the brigade commander, Brigadier General O.O. Braimah, lost his life,” Kaga Local Government Chairman Zannah Lawan Ajimi told AFP in a phone interview.

Two intelligence sources confirmed Braimah’s death to AFP.

His death follows the killing of Brigadier General Musa Uba by ISWAP in November. He was the highest-ranking military official to die in the long-running conflict since 2021.

“They overran the brigade,” one of the intelligence sources said, giving the death toll as “at least” 18.

The second intelligence source said that “the terrorists killed several troops” and “burnt vehicles and buildings before they withdrew,” without giving a toll.

The army and Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

– Rising terrorist violence –

Researchers have warned of an uptick of violence since 2025.

Borno capital Maiduguri has seen two suicide bombings since December — the type of bloody, urban attacks reminiscent of the insurgency’s peak a decade ago.

On Wednesday, the US State Department said in a notice it was authorising “non-emergency US government employees” to leave Abuja “due to the deteriorating security situation”.

While the insurgency is concentrated in the northeastern countryside, terrorists from Nigeria and the neighbouring Sahel have made inroads western Nigeria, where organised crime gangs known as “bandits” have been raiding villages and extorting farmers and artisanal miners for years.

Gunmen killed at least 90 people across several remote villages in northwest Nigeria this week, according to an AFP tally of tolls given by local and humanitarian sources.

Among the attacks was an assault in Kebbi state that police blamed a local terrorist group known as Mahmuda, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Kebbi sits on Nigeria’s border with Benin and Niger and since 2025 has been targeted by a rising number of terrorist attacks.

Conflict monitor ACLED says there has been a surge in violence in the area carried out by militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

In nearby Kwara state, in October, fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM claimed an attack after years of researchers warning that the terrorist conflict ravaging the Sahel risked spreading south towards coastal West African states.

In December, the United States, with Nigerian assistance, bombed northwest Sokoto state, targeting Islamic State Sahel Province fighters usually found in neighbouring Niger, along with Mali and Burkina Faso.

AFP