The Nigeria Police Force has renewed its warning that bail is free. It says officers who demand or accept money for bail, and members of the public who pay it, risk arrest and prosecution.

The warning came from Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu, who spoke through the Head of the Force’s Complaint Response Unit (CRU), Superintendent of Police Awu Fidelis Jonah. Jonah delivered the message in Lagos on Friday at a sensitisation rally organised by the CRU with the Eagle Crime Awareness and Prevention Initiative (ECAPI).

Jonah said the IGP had repeatedly stressed that no money should be demanded or paid for the release of any arrested person. Bail, he said, is free, and neither suspects nor their relatives are expected to pay “a dime”.

He urged Nigerians not to encourage the practice by paying officers voluntarily and to report any demand for money through the police’s official complaint channels instead.

Jonah described the rally as an important step in rebuilding public trust, which he said the police had lost. He added that complaints against officers were being investigated more thoroughly and that those found culpable were being disciplined. Officers who acted against the IGP’s directives would be held accountable, according to ECAPI’s National Coordinator, Samuel Eniola.

Eniola also said action had been taken over a recent incident in Ikorodu, and that the officers involved would be punished.

The warning also drew on the Lagos command’s own steps. Jonah said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Fatai Tijani, had met officers to address concerns, including the use of unregistered vehicles, particularly buses, by personnel.

The message is one the police have repeated over the years. Previous Inspectors-General and commanders have said the same thing, and notices that bail is free are displayed in many police stations.

Yet complaints about money being demanded for release persist, and the new warning drew scepticism online. Some social media users said paying is still routine at many stations and questioned whether the order would change anything on the ground.

The police say the aim of the latest campaign is to push the public to resist and report such demands, and to make officers think twice before making them.