IGP Olatunji Disu has reportedly ordered police nationwide to “shoot anyone with illegal firearms on sight.”
It sounds tough. It sounds decisive. In a country bleeding from kidnapping, armed robbery, and cult violence, Nigerians want action.
But orders without context become license.
First, who defines “illegal firearms” on sight? In a 2-second encounter at night, in a checkpoint, in a market? Police don’t carry forensic labs in their pockets. Mistakes will happen. And when mistakes happen, it’s usually not the big man’s son.
Second: what about bandits? The ones in the North West and North Central with AK-47s, operating in convoys, attacking villages, collecting taxes. They are the face of “illegal firearms” in Nigeria. Will this order apply to them, or will it apply to the vulcanizer with a dane gun and the vigilante protecting his community where police never arrive?
We’ve tried heavy-handed policing before. It produces body counts, not safety. It also deepens distrust. Citizens who fear police more than criminals will not give intelligence. And intelligence is what breaks bandit networks, not random shootings.
If the IGP is serious, pair the order with three things:
1. Identification and training, so officers can tell threat from possession.
2. Accountability, body cams, investigations, consequences for abuse.
3. A real bandit plan, air support, intelligence, prosecution, and cutting their funding.
“Shoot on sight” without a system is just noise. And noise doesn’t stop bandits. It only buries more Nigerians.
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bcradle@ymail.com
