‘Don’t Allow It’ — FCT CP Asks Residents to Resist Phone Searches by Police Officers

Ahmed Sanusi, commissioner of police for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), says residents should resist attempts by officers to search their mobile phones during routine stop-and-search operations.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, the nation’s capital, Sanusi said mobile phone searches by police officers and operatives of sister agencies violate the directive of the inspector-general of police (IGP).

He said police officers are not permitted to stop people on the road and demand access to their phones solely on suspicion that they are involved in internet fraud or other crimes.

The commissioner said the directive was issued in response to complaints about abuse of power and extortion by some officers.

He noted that every personnel of the force is expected to comply fully with the IGP’s instructions.

“It has been clearly stated that, of course, due to the abuse and extortion tendencies of some officers and men of not only the police but even other sister agencies,” Sanusi said.

“It has been instructed that nobody should search any phone, especially when you just arrest somebody on the road, and you say bring your phone, and you start searching because you are suspecting the person to be Yahoo Yahoo.

“This does not negate the fact that phones are also being used to commit crime.”

Sanusi said officers cannot lawfully demand access to a person’s phone during roadside encounters without following due process.

The police commissioner urged residents in the FCT not to surrender their phones if officers demand to search them during routine stops.

He added that members of the public should seek help from bystanders and contact the police emergency or complaint lines so that the officers involved can be questioned.

“But of course, before such a thing can happen, the person must have committed a crime, must have been properly arrested, and brought to the station,” he said.

“Then, when trying to uncover some evidence, you can now start searching to see whether your phone or other items are being used to commit or perpetrate such a crime.

“But for you to just stop anybody on the road and say bring your phone; let me search. You have some amount on your phone.

“That’s why, if any policeman stops you on the road according to the instructions of the inspector-general of police, which we are bound to obey to the last of it, don’t agree.

“Don’t open your phones; resist. Ask the nearby people to help you call the police hotline, emergency line.”

He said residents outside the FCT should report such incidents to the commissioner of police in their respective state commands.