The Commissioner of Police in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), CP Ahmed Sanusi, has directed residents, especially youths, not to surrender their mobile phones to police officers for roadside searches, declaring that such actions contravene the standing directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).
Sanusi gave the directive on Tuesday while addressing journalists, warning that indiscriminate searches of citizens’ phones during stop-and-search operations remain illegal and would not be tolerated under his watch.
The police commissioner said the Inspector-General had expressly prohibited officers from demanding access to members of the public’s mobile phones because the practice had become a tool for harassment, extortion and abuse of power.
He stressed that no police officer has the legal authority to stop a citizen on the road and compel them to unlock or hand over their phone for inspection without due process.
“The issue of phone searching has been clearly stated. Because of the abuse and extortion tendencies of some officers and men—not only in the Police but even in other sister security agencies—it has been instructed that nobody should search any phone,” Sanusi said.
He clarified that mobile phones could only be subjected to forensic or evidential examination after a suspect had been lawfully arrested in connection with a criminal offence and taken to a police station for investigation.
According to him, investigators may examine a phone only when there are reasonable grounds to believe it contains evidence relevant to an offence already under investigation.
He said, “This does not negate the fact that phones are also being used to commit crime. But before such a thing can happen, the person must have committed the crime, must have been properly arrested and brought to the station. It is only then that investigators can examine the phone as part of efforts to establish evidence.”
Sanusi warned officers against profiling or targeting young Nigerians based on mere suspicion of internet fraud or the amount of money found in their bank accounts or mobile devices.
“But for you to just stop anybody on the road and say, ‘Bring your phone, let me search,’ or question the amount of money on the person’s phone, that is against the instruction of the Inspector-General of Police. Don’t agree. Don’t open your phones. Resist,” he said.
The FCT police boss advised residents confronted by officers demanding to search their phones to immediately seek assistance by calling the police emergency line or alerting nearby police personnel.
He assured the public that the command would promptly investigate such incidents and sanction any officer found violating the Inspector-General’s directive.
“If it happens within the FCT, contact our emergency line and we will ask those officers to explain their actions. If it happens outside the FCT, report the matter to the Commissioner of Police in that command,” he said.
Reaffirming the command’s zero-tolerance stance against unlawful phone searches, Sanusi warned that officers who disregard the directive would face disciplinary measures.
“We remain firmly against this practice and will continue to enforce the Inspector-General’s directive. Those who engage in such acts are criminally minded and seek to extort innocent citizens. Any officer found culpable will be disciplined and made to face the consequences of his actions,” he added.
