The names and phone numbers of the Police Public Relations Officers (PPROs) of 12 states on the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) website are outdated, FIJ can report.
FIJ surfed the NPF website on Thursday, Friday and Tuesday for the list containing the contact details of PPROs for each state, and found that the details of some state PPROs belonged to former PPROs.
Out of the 36 state PPROs on the list, 24 were correct; the details of the remaining 12 were outdated and belonged to previous state PPROs.
For instance, on the NPF website, Odiko S. Ogbeche-Macdon’s name and phone number were written as the contact details of the Akwa Ibom PPRO instead of John Timfon, who was announced as the state’s PPRO in April. It was five months since Timfon became Akwa Ibom PPRO, but Ogbeche-Macdon’s details remained on the website’s list of state PPROs.
Also, Ejire Adetoun Adeyemi’s details were missing from the list of state PPROs on the website, despite being appointed as the Kwara PPRO in November. The details of Okasanmi Ajayi, the former Kwara PPRO, retained the same spot.
While FIJ understands that some state PPROs were appointed recently, some of them, like Adeyemi, have occupied their positions for almost a year. Yet, their details were nowhere to be found on the list.
READ ALSO: ALERT: NPF Website Unsafe for Visitors as Police Fail to Renew SSL Certificate
The names of the current state PPROs whose names were missing from the list on the NPF website are contained in the table below:
STATES | CURRENT PPRO | NAME ON NPF WEBSITE |
Akwa Ibom | John Timfon | Odiko S. Ogbeche-Macdon |
Bayelsa | Musa Mohammed | Butswat Asinim |
Borno | Nahum Kenneth Daso | Sani Kamilu |
Ebonyi | Joshua Ukandu | Chris Anyanwu |
Edo | Moses Joel Yamu | Chidi Nwabuzor |
Gombe | Buhari Abdullahi | Mahid Muazu Abubakar |
Imo | Okoye Henry | Michael Abattam |
Kaduna | Mansir Hassan | Mohammed Jalige |
Kwara | Ejire Adetoun Adeyemi | Okasannmi Ajayi |
Katsina | Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu | Gambo Isah |
Ogun | Omolola Odutola | Abimbola Oyeyemi |
Zamfara | Yazid Abubakar | Muhammed Shehu |
By retaining details of previous state PPROs on their website, the NPF is violating Article 3.1 of the NITDA standards guidelines for websites, which states:
The Internet is becoming a preferred means of accessing Government information and services. Therefore, Government Institutions, through their websites, must make sure that information provided is current and that it is updated at least weekly.
‘POLICE WEBSITE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED’ – JOURNALISTS REACT
While this may appear as a minor issue, journalists who have had to contact state PPROs for information beneficial to their work are usually disappointed. They often surf the NPF website for the contact details of state PPROs, and find the details of the previous PPROs instead.
READ ALSO: ‘Not Even a Response’ — How Nigerian Gov’t Is Breaking FoI Law
Often, journalists have to contact other colleagues to help them with the contact details of the PPRO they need to speak with, something they find frustrating, considering the urgency and timeliness associated with news reports.
“I usually feel frustrated when I have to contact colleagues to help me with the details of PPROs whose names are not on the NPF website, considering that I have deadlines as well as the urgency and timeliness that comes with writing news reports,” said a journalist.
“Sometimes you don’t even know if the colleague you are reaching out to can help you or not.”
FIJ sent Muyiwa Adejobi, the Police Force PRO, a message on Monday, but he did not respond. Adejobi did not respond to FIJ’s calls on Tuesday.
Subscribe
Be the first to receive special investigative reports and features in your inbox.
One reply on “NPF Website Violates NITDA Guidelines, Does Not Have the Phone Numbers of PPROs”
I need to say that this kind of a thing is a disgrace to us Nigerian It is too bad One of the institution manned by Nigerian hundred percent is the police Force we need to work hard to ensure that reliability comes as a purpose of utmost necessity