The thorny issue of the Nigerian Police indiscriminate search of the mobile phones of pedestrians has been a problem for a long time. In spite of the mandate issued last year January by the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, banning this act, these illegal searches and molestation still rages on, with the police using the excuse of investigating yahoo boys as a ruse to extort their victims.
The Lagos State Police PRO, Dolapo Badmus, recently shed some light on the issue in an LIB exclusive, where she said this kind of police search is wrong.
In her words: “Your phone is private, it’s your private property because people do a lot of private stuffs on their mobile phones, so it’s wrong. Police officers have no right to do that except there is a reasonable ground to do so.”
Watch the video below:
“except there is reasonable doubt to do so”…. That right there is the problem, that’s where they hold on to as grounds to search your phone. That’s why they always start by saying there has been reports of Yahoo Yahoo boys, armed robbers, homosexuals….. Blah blah blah. There has to be a warrant, not just reasonable doubt.
You beat me to it. And you are so right.