Popular Nigerian lawyer, Stan Alieke, has dropped an advice on how Nigerians can deal with police excesses.

‎
‎Recall that over the years, many Nigerians have called out the law enforcement agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, over the excesses of its officers, which includes extortion, brutality and many more.

‎
‎Taking to his Instagram page on Friday, Stan Alieke, in a lengthy post, advised Nigerians on what to do whenever they are stopped by a police officer or any other law enforcement agents on the road.

‎
‎He wrote:
‎"Due to the reactions to our last post, these are what you should do when stopped by a police officer or any other law enforcement agent on the road;

‎
‎"1. Be respectful & courteous when addressing an officer, always remember that they are there for your own safety & they are only exercising their statutory duties as backed by Section 4 of the Police Act. But if after being respectful and courteous & they still want to har@s, bulli or even try to extort you, stand your ground (respectfully) against them & resist.

‎
‎"2. An officer is not permitted to check or search your personal belongings like your phones, or even search your pocket. Courts have even held that a police officer does not have the jurisdiction to ask for your car particulars, not even the FRSC officers, it is only the VIO that has the jurisdiction to ask for your car particulars. The National Assembly has also asked the police to stop enforcing the ban on car tint. So an officer can no longer harass you for tinted permit. Respectfully tell these to the officer attending to you so he knows that you know your rights.

‎
‎"3. If the officer attending to you is wearing a uniform or an ID, call him by the name on the breast pocket of his uniform or on the ID.

‎
‎"From experience, once a rogue officer sees that you know his name, he will become more careful or courteous with you. If the officer, attending to you is proving unnecessarily difficult, demand to see the OC (the operation commander), the supervisor, or the superior officer on the operation, again from experience, the superior officers are always more reasonable.

‎
‎"4. If they insist on taking you to the station, indulge them.

‎
‎When you get to the station demand to see the DPO, or whoever that's in charge, then demand to call your lawyer. Once they see that you are not Ainching, they will let you go. They can only Waste your time-Police extortion & harassment are only gaining momentum because some of you are enabling them. If everyone stands their ground against them and repulse their extortions, it will stop. So when next they stop you, do those things listed above.

‎
‎"Outside all these, if you meet a police officer in the middle of the night or in the middle of nowhere with nobody else in sight, treat them as @rmed robbers & comply with whatever they demand for your safety. It'd be foolish of you at that point to be quoting the law or claiming to know your rights; a rogue police officer can shoot you & hide your corpse if they know there's no eye witness. This has happened many times. If you find yourself in that situation, give them whatever they want. Just try to pick up on anything you can use to recognize them or trace them later.

‎
‎"Most importantly, always have a lawyer on a speed dial, rogue police officers always behave better once they hear, "Let me call my lawyer" and if you can afford it, get a dash cam for your car. The police authorities always react faster to the nastiness of their officers once they see it is caught on camera or has made it to social media."

‎