Adenuga Toheeb Ayoola.
The Commissioner of Police of the Federal Capital Territory, Ahmed Sanusi, urged residents, particularly youths, not to allow police officers to search their mobile phones during stop-and-search operations.
The CP stated this during a press conference today, where he affirmed that officers are prohibited from randomly searching the phones of members of the public,stating that such actions violate the directive of the Inspector-General of Police.
“The issue of phone searching has been clearly stated. Due to the abuse and extortion tendencies of some officers and men, not only of the Police but even other sister agencies, it has been instructed that nobody should search any phone,” he said.
He stressed that officers should not stop people on the road and demand access to their phones merely because they suspect them of internet fraud or any other offence.
“But for you to just stop anybody on the road and say, ‘Bring your phone, let me search. Or, you have so and so amount on your phone’ any policeman who stops you on the road, according to the instructions of the Inspector-General of Police, we are bound to obey to the last of it. Don’t agree. Don’t open your phones. Resist,” Sanusi said.
He advised members of the public to seek help by contacting the police emergency line or nearby officers whenever they are confronted by policemen demanding to search their phones.
Sanusi reaffirmed the command’s commitment to enforcing the Inspector-General’s directive, warning that any officer caught violating it would face disciplinary action.
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