The Nigeria Police Force’s hurried launch of an internal probe into the widely circulated video of armed officers tailing actress Angela Okorie during her morning jog represents more than a mere public relations exercise—it cuts to the heart of endemic resource misallocation, privilege peddling and institutional hypocrisy.
In the video, two uniformed, armed men sprint in full battle‐dress alongside Ms Okorie, eliciting both amusement and fury across social media platforms.
Yet, as Force Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi admitted, such conduct “falls short of the discipline and decorum expected of personnel of the Force”.
At a time when Nigeria’s policing challenges remain acute—marked by a ratio of one officer to roughly 600 citizens, well below the United Nations benchmark of 1:400—the deployment of heavily‐armed personnel to escort a celebrity jogger smacks of gross misprioritisation.
With a sworn strength of approximately 371,800 officers tasked with safeguarding 226 million people nationwide, every rifle and patrol vehicle diverted to “celebrity escort duty” represents a lost opportunity to secure volatile communities beset by banditry, kidnapping and political unrest.
This incident is also symptomatic of a deeper culture of elitism within the Force. When public outcry first demanded accountability, the Force swiftly activated administrative processes to “identify the officers involved and determine the circumstances”.
Yet when thousands languish without protection, and remote villages remain at the mercy of marauding gangs, the same alacrity is glaringly absent.
Such double standards erode public trust and vindicate critics who long have decried the NPF as an institution that privileges high-profile individuals over ordinary citizens.
Moreover, the alleged setting of the video—a behind-the-scenes shoot for the forthcoming action‐thriller Queen of Guns—underscores a troubling blurring of lines between security provision and entertainment marketing.
If the scene were purely cinematic, why the secrecy? Why the need for real firearms and real uniforms? And who authorised the deployment of armed officers for a film set rather than for frontline duties?
Looking back, this is hardly the first brush with controversy for the Nigeria Police. From viral TikTok scandals to documented cases of excessive force, the Force’s struggle to uphold professional standards has been longstanding.
Yet each fresh outcry yields only temporary discipline, with systemic reform perpetually promised but never delivered.
As the investigation unfolds, Nigerians will be watching not just for the names of culpable officers, but for genuine commitment to reorient policing priorities towards enhancing public safety rather than pandering to celebrity spectacle.
Anything less will only reinforce the perception that, for Nigeria’s police, optics still outrank operational urgency.”
