Abstract

The media framing and discursive representation of the Nigeria Police (NP) in opinion articles in selected Nigerian newspapers are privileged in this study. Data were purposively sourced from The Punch, Vanguard, and ThisDay given their preponderant featuring of opinion articles on NP. Making recourse to Entman’s Framing Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis, the study documents evaluative language, metaphors, agency attribution, nominalisation, passivisation, and argumentative patterns employed to assign blame, responsibility, and sympathy in the articles. Six dominant frames, with the most prominent portraying the Police as victims of institutional neglect, alongside depictions of corruption, brutality, elite protection, structural incapacity, and abuse of state power, were found in the articles. Collectively, these frames function to delegitimise the modi operandi of NP, emphasising the need for institutional reform and accountability.