The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has described refusals by any Nigerian called upon to assist its officers being assaulted or in danger of assault or resistance in the discharge of their duties, as a punishable offence under the law.
The Force, in a post on its X page and by its spokesperson, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, explained that while obstructing or resisting public officers from discharging their duties is a crime, refusal to help them while in danger is also an offence.
Adejobi’s post, titled: ‘Know The Law and Be Guided’, is coming on the heels of trending videos showing a policeman in a physical encounter with an unidentified woman and another between two young men and police officers at a checkpoint.
According to the Force spokesperson, Section 99 of the Police Act 2020 frowns at refusal by anyone called upon to assist a police officer being assaulted or in danger of being assaulted.
“When a person is called upon to aid and assist a police officer who is, while in the discharge of his duty, assaulted or resisted or in danger of being assaulted or resisted, and the person refuses or neglects to aid and assist, the person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of three months or both,” Adejobi wrote
