Police no be parenting centre, Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu don warn parents against turning police stations into places where dem dey send children for discipline whenever home training don become difficult. The warning sound simple, but behind am dey one serious question: who suppose carry the responsibility when a child begins to misbehave — parent, teacher, police, or everybody together?
Disu’s position, as contained in his earlier reflection and reinforced during a National Youth Leadership and Security Dialogue in Abuja, be say parents must not confuse reporting criminal behaviour with surrendering their parental responsibilities. He recalled cases where parents approached police asking officers to detain, discipline or even torture their children. According to him, police enforce law and investigate crime; dem no dey replace parents.
Police Don Talk: “We Fit Arrest Criminal, But We No Fit Arrest Bad Parenting”
The IGP recently narrated the remarkable story of a retired soldier who, while serving as a Divisional Police Officer in Ago Iwoye, reportedly demanded that police kill his university-student son after the young man was arrested over alleged cultism. The father was said to have been extremely angry at the time. But the following morning, the same man returned with food for his son.
That story fit sound like one Nollywood scene where the first actor dey shout “finish am!” and the next morning dey ask whether the person don chop. But beneath the irony, Disu used the experience to show the complicated nature of parenting. Anger over a child’s behaviour can be intense, yet parental love and responsibility still remain. He said the young man later completed his education, married and became a father himself.
Disu had also previously written that some parents had asked police to detain or torture their children, including a father who wanted his drug-addicted son kept in police custody for weeks. The officer rejected the request, stressing that police cells are not rehabilitation centres. His central argument remains that parenting cannot simply be outsourced to the state whenever a child becomes difficult to control.
Parents Want Police To Discipline Their Children — IGP Disu Replies: “Sir, This One No Be Our Job Description”
The matter, however, no mean say teachers or schools have zero responsibility for student discipline. Nigerian educational research has long recognised that teachers can have disciplinary responsibilities within the school environment, while also pointing to limits around what teachers are expected or permitted to do. More recent research has emphasised cooperation between parents and teachers rather than dumping the entire responsibility on one side.
That distinction important because police intervention becomes necessary when a child’s behaviour crosses into criminal conduct or creates a genuine security threat. A parent should not hide serious offences simply because the child is underage or because the family wants to handle everything privately. At the same time, reporting a crime is different from telling officers to become substitute parents. The law has a job; the family has its own job.
Disu’s wider policing philosophy also places emphasis on professionalism and accountability. In April 2026, the Nigeria Police Force began disciplinary proceedings involving 167 senior officers over alleged breaches of professional conduct, showing that the IGP himself has been pushing the idea that discipline should operate within defined institutional responsibilities.
The irony therefore no hard to see: parents are being reminded to discipline responsibly at home, while police officers themselves are also expected to operate within professional boundaries. In both situations, “discipline” no mean punishment by any method available. E mean responsibility, lawful correction, accountability and knowing where your own duty starts and ends.
The real lesson from Disu’s warning be say Nigerian families need more presence, communication and cooperation, not more pressure on institutions to solve problems they were never designed to solve. Teachers can guide students within school rules; police can protect lives, enforce laws and investigate crime; but parenting begins from home. If parents only remember their responsibility after police station don open file, the country may keep treating the symptoms while the original problem quietly dey grow for the sitting room.
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