"As a first choice, we are advising Nigerians to actually avoid these viewing centres as much as possible", Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba told AFP from the capital Abuja.
Instead, Mba said the advice was to watch the tournament instead with family or friends.
The police image gave the advice on the backdrop of a bomb explosion outside a viewing centre in Damaturu, Yobe State, on Tuesday night, which killed 14 people and left 21 others wounded.
Previous deadly attacks on football viewing centres in Nigeria have been blamed on Boko Haram militants – a development that forced the Adamawa and Plateau State governments separately, to order the closure of such centres.
Mba affirmed that individual states were within their rights to order closures but police were working with centre operators and local agencies to improve security, particularly in the restive North.
Advice includes better searches of customers, increased vigilance from locals as well as creating pedestrian-only zones between 50 and 100 metres (yards) from venues to prevent car bomb attacks, Mba said.
"We're not calling for a total proscription. We would rather as a first choice sensitise and educate the public so they can take informed decisions", the police spokesman added.
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