Post falsely claims pockets on police uniforms being removed to stop bribery

The Nigerian police have long been criticised for taking bribes. A social media post has claimed the Nigerian government is planning to remove pockets from police uniforms to tackle bribery. But the claim is false; there has been no such recent announcement, while a photo attached to the post is from an unrelated event.

The X post, published on September 2, 2025, includes a picture of a Nigerian police officer holding up a uniform on a hanger. “FG to remove pockets from police uniforms to tackle bribery, says FG,” reads text on the image. “FG” means “federal government”.

“Who is thinking for these guys?” reads the caption of the post, which was shared more than 100 times.

Comments under the post suggest that the majority of commenters believe the claim.

“I am completely lost for words,” reads one comment. Another wrote: “They will be using their bank account or dig hole on the ground (sic).”

According to a 2023 survey by a Pan-African research network Afrobarometer, 35 percent of Nigerian adults admitted paying a bribe to police in the previous year, with nearly three-quarters of those who requested police assistance saying they had to offer cash, gifts or favours (archived here).

The Nigerian police force has also ranked among the worst globally, in part due to bribery, placing 122 out of 125 in the 2023 World Internal Security and Police Index (archived here).

The claim has been shared elsewhere on TikTok, Facebook and X.

However, the Nigerian government has not said it is planning to remove pockets from police uniforms.

Unrelated event

AFP Fact Check conducted an internet search using keywords from the claim. The results did not reveal any new or old announcements by the Nigerian government about removing pockets from the uniforms of the country’s police force.

In a statement released on September 23, 2025, Nigerian police spokesperson in Abuja, Josephine Adeh, said none of its personnel have been told to remove pockets from their uniforms.

“The attention of the FCT Police Command has been drawn to a false claim circulating on social media, alleging that personnel of the Command have been directed to remove pockets from their uniforms. This claim is entirely baseless and should be disregarded,” Adeh stated.

She added that “there has been no such directive from the Office of the Inspector General of Police”.

We also ran a reverse image search on the attached image using Google Lens and the results led to a YouTube video showing Bala Ciroma, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of finance and administration (archived here).

In the seven-minute video published on September 7, 2024, Ciroma unveiled the “newly approved standardised supernumerary police SPY uniforms and kits”.

The Supernumerary Police (SPY) in Nigeria are auxiliary officers created under the Police Act to provide security for government agencies and private organisations, with limited powers and no entitlement to pensions (archived here).

At the event, Ciroma said the launch of the redesigned SPY uniform “marks a significant milestone and a crucial step in our effort at enhancing professionalism and visibility of our  supernumerary police officers”.

“Additionally, it was a step aimed at checkmating abuse and misuse of the regular police uniforms and ensuring that our supernumerary police officers are uniquely dressed,” Ciroma added.

At the 5’27’’ mark, Ciroma stood up and displayed the newly-designed SPY uniform. The screenshot used in the claim was taken about 12 seconds later.

At no point in the entire clip did Ciroma mention the removal of pockets from the redesigned uniform, which are, in fact, visible on the front of the shirt.

The event was also reported by local media houses (archived here).