Officers of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, have expressed reservations over the directive to arrest and prosecute Nigerians still using Twitter, despite the Federal Government’s ban, .
Apart from Pastors Enoch Adeboye and Williams Kumuyi, Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, are among other prominent Nigerians who have posted on Twitter despite the ban.
Multiple sources in the Police Headquarters, in Abuja, have revealed that the Police authorities are in a dilemma on how to enforce the arrest and prosecution order by the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
One of the sources, who is a Senior Police Officer, said: “Honestly, it is not something the Police authorities will want to dabble into. Do you expect the Police to begin to arrest these prominent Nigerians who you have mentioned, because they are using Twitter?
“You know that Policemen are already the ‘whipping boys’ of the Nigerian society always. Do you expect us to add this to our burden?”
Another Police Officer revealed that the Police authorities are not favourably disposed to being involved in the enforcement of the suspension, saying that the Office of the AGF would do so.
When reminded that before the Office of the AGF could prosecute, the Police would have to first arrest the suspects, the source added: “I am not aware of any plan to arrest anybody.
“In any case, it is not the Police alone that can arrest offenders. For instance, are Officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps not empowered to arrest?”
