The Burden of Police Reform on IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu 

On March 4, 2026, Mr Olatunji Rilwan Disu was officially sworn in as the new Inspector-General of Police (IGP). The news of his appointment was followed by testimonies of his achievements in his previous roles within the NPF. His moderate success as the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ondo, Oyo, and Rivers States, and Second-in-Command of the State Criminal Investigations Department in Rivers, saw him appointed as the Commander of Lagos State’s Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in 2015. Between 2015 and 2021, Disu’s efforts redounded to the positive reputation of the squad as they came to be well received by the public. He equally introduced crime mapping, hotspot policing, and ensured members of the squad undertook primary health response training.  This period was marked by documented cases of officers aiding stranded motorists and providing emergency assistance to accident victims.

From there, he went on to serve as the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Department of Operations, Abuja, the head of the Intelligence Response Team in 2021, Commissioner of Police in Rivers State (2023 – 2024), and in Abuja (2024 – 2025). In recognition of his service across these roles, he received recognition for the “Best Anti-Crime Police Squad in West Africa” (2016) and the award for the “Best Commissioner of Police” in 2024. Considering the glimmer of his repute, the public placed a fair share of hope in his appointment. 

Speaking during his swearing-in, he said, “My tenure will be built on three clear commitments: professionalism, modernism, and accountability,” and since the start of his tenure, he has sought to reinvigorate the Complaint Response Unit and the Independent X-Squad to adequately look into complaints from citizens against the police. 

But the Nigerian Police Force, as we know it, is long overdue for wholesome reforms. Earlier this week, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of the Nigerian Police Force, Nuhu Usman, opened fire and killed a suspect known as Mene Ogidi. According to SP Bright Edafe, the command’s Public Relations Officer, the suspect who was brutally killed was arrested in the course of illegally dispatching a parcel of firearms. He was fatally shot after he was restrained in handcuffs, as seen in a viral video online. 

Though troubling, this incident is not unusual for Nigerians; it is a case of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) living up to the ignoble reputation it has built for itself by the frequent extrajudicial killings and inhumane torture of ordinary civilians and suspects alike. In the first quarter of 2026, the Nigerian Human Rights Commission documented up to 492 extrajudicial killings by the Police Force, reflecting a 5% increase when compared to the same period in 2025. Additionally, between 2020 and 2025, security forces’ brutality (police and military) accounts for up to 824 fatalities across 598 recorded incidents. A lot of Nigerians, at several times, have recounted sordid ordeals that greet them after encountering the members of the NPF, including the police brutality that led to the #ENDSARS protests. Physical violence alone does not account for their misdeeds. 

The NPF is notorious for undisguised bribe-collection. Going by a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Police officers accounted for 35.7% of all bribes received by public officials in 2019. Egregious extortion, forced confessions, and the distortion of evidence are some of the other well-known machinations they exact on Nigerians with daily consistency. 

For years, the NPF has operated outside the scope of legal or moral guidance. This lack of scruples is compounded by the problems of underfunding, poor welfare, haphazard recruitment policies, institutional commodification, and the lack of psychological training. The culture of impunity fuels the increasing misconduct of the members of the police. Defaulting police officials are either protected behind a web of lies and false narratives or, at best, given a slap on the wrist, even as policemen return to the former order of brutality, high-handedness, death threats and rapacity. 

These are the challenges the IG of police must address to make good on his promises, and he must do so with pressing urgency. Mr Olatunji Disu must ensure that the core of his reformation includes human rights training and other lessons on de-escalation and use-of-force protocols, constant psychological evaluations, an effective incident reporting system, improved working conditions, and recruitment reforms. Additionally, more efficient and transparent means of civilian complaint mechanisms must be put in place.  

Reacting to the unjust murder of Mene Ogidi, the IG of Police approved the dismissal and prosecution of the officers involved. According to him and the decision of the Force Disciplinary Committee, the officers involved had acted outside the scope of their rules and codes and will undergo judicial punishment in addition to official sanctioning. Credible as this is, it doesn’t solve the problem Nigerian citizens have with the NPF. The IGP must go further to show that the punishment of the officers in this instance is the start of an institutional reform and not an optics-management approach. The age-old frustrations of Nigerians cannot be assuaged until the very conduct of the average policeman undergoes a wholesome change.