A former Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, Dolapo Badmus, has said that no officer of the Nigeria Police Force has any business searching the mobile devices of citizens.
Badmus said officers engaging in such an illegal act were only harassing hapless citizens.
She spoke at the ongoing Social Media Week 2020 in Lagos on Wednesday.
The ex-police spokesman said, “The menace of officers of NPF stopping residents of Lagos and demanding to search their phones has become increasingly worrisome.
“Those officers demanding to search people’s mobile devices can be likened to walking up to a random man and asking him to pull off his boxers for the sake of a search operation.”
Badmus said such action was illegal, saying a phone is a private space as it contains confidential details such as bank information and others.
But she noted, “Police officers are only allowed to do so when there is a reason to carry out an investigation.
“I must say this that in Nigeria, the police is still a work-in-progress and we will get it right soonest,” she added.
