IGP Warns Police Officers Against Sharing of Intelligent Reports And Other Documents On Social Media

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, has warned all Police Officers across the country against the indiscriminate sharing of  intelligence, Security Reports on Social Media. 

According to a communique by the police authority, obtained by the OBSERVERS TIMES, the documents share more details

INDISCRIMINATE SHARING OF INTELLIGENCE, SECURITY REPORTS AND OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS OF THE FORCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY POLICE OFFICERS

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2. The Inspector General of Police has observed of late, the increasing mishandling of highly sensitive intelligence reports and other classified documents by Officers and men of the Force. Technical review of such recent breaches often link Senior Officers particularly some State Commissioners of Police to the leakages.
3. Aside violating the extant social media policy of the Force, mishandling of official documents or entrusting the processing of such to junior ranking and other unauthorized officers often engenders such leakages. Even more conceming is that serving police officers have formed the unacceptable habits of acting as agents that rebroadcast such classified documents on social media. It is to be emphasized that intelligence reports are usually sent on the need-to-know and need-to-share basis and hence ought not to be transmitted to unauthorized authorities in any form.
4. It is also to be emphasized that the Cybercrime Unit of the Force has been equipped with appropriate software applications that could be deployed to review, trace and identify specific officers and platforms involved in the unauthorized dissemination of such sensitive official documents.
5. To facilitate this technical review, each of such sensitive official documents is now embedded with unique security codes for ease of tracking the breaches. The application of this security process has aided in the identification and tracking of recent leakages to some Command Commissioners of Police and other personnel of the Force and the Inspector General of Police has since queried the identified Officers.
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1. Consequently, the Inspector General of Police has directed as follows:
2. Treat as extremely urgent and importan~lease.
3. In line with the extant Social Media Policy of the Force, henceforth, on no account should any official document of the Force be posted on any WhatsApp group page or any other unofficial or unauthorized social media platforms.
4. In the event that such official documents are inadvertently posted, on no account should any police officer rebroadcast them.
   The Administrators and other account owners whose platforms or accounts are utilized to display any intelligence, security reports and other official documents would be queried or defaulted as the case may be. Vicarious liability could also be extended to other members of the WhatsApp group or other social media platforms for forming part of such security breaches.
5. 1v.
   To give effect to this, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, INTERPOL has been directed to optimally deploy our unique cyber space surveillance assets for monitoring and reporting any breach for appropriate action by the Inspector General of Police.
   v.
   It is the added directive of the Inspector General of Police that the content of this letter should be made a subject of lecture to all Police Officers.
   Ag. CP ldowu 0 Principal Staff
   To
   Inspector General of Police
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CC:
The Assistant Inspector General of Police (INTERPOL)
National Central Bureau, The Nigeria Police Force, Force Headquarters, Ahuja.
Overleaf is for your information and incorporation into the Daily Cybercrime Unit Social Media Monitoring Group report of the National Central Bureau (INTERPOL).
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