Extra-judicial Killings: Police official advises against speaking ‘Queen’s English’ to officers

The Head of Police Public Complaint Unit, Abayomi Shogunle, has advised Nigerians to avoid speaking “Queen’s English” to police officers on the road so as to avoid problems with them.

Mr Shogunle said people should instead speak “Pidgin” English while communicating with police officers on the road, apparently suggesting that most of the officers not comfortable conversing in English.

Mr Shogunle gave the advice on Wednesday via his official Twitter handle as he shared a video of a police boss in Lagos warning officers against killing innocent Nigerians.

“For now, don’t go and be speaking Queen’s English with them on the road. For proper understanding, talk to them in Pidgin, another way to avoid kasala,” he said.

See his tweet below:

“Nice one .
Lagos State will be calm if police chiefs in #Lagos do more of this.
Source: RRS Lagos
cc: @PoliceNG_CRU

#YSGuide: For now, don’t go and be speaking Queen’s English with them on the road. For proper understanding talk to them in Pidgin, another way to avoid kasala.

Nice one 👍.
Lagos State will be calm if police chiefs in #Lagos do more of this.
Source: RRS Lagos
cc: @PoliceNG_CRU#YSGuide: For now, don't go and be speaking Queen's English with them on the road. For proper understanding talk to them in Pidgin, another way to avoid kasala. pic.twitter.com/9MgT7VNJn9

— Abayomi Shogunle (@YomiShogunle) April 17, 2019

The police have come under fire over extra-judicial killings of Nigerians on the road. There have also been several cases of police officers harassing or torturing innocent Nigerians.

These have restoked the #EndSARS campaign on social media.

Amnesty International had investigated the activities of SARS over the past three years.

In the report of one of the investigations in September 2016, titled: “Nigeria: You Have Signed Your Death Warrant”, the group stated how police officers maltreat suspects to force them to confess to a crime they did not commit.