Abuja residents must resist illegal phone searches during routine police stop and search operations
Federal Capital Territory Police Commissioner Ahmed Sanusi declared roadside phone searches illegal in Abuja on Monday. He urged residents to resist unauthorized searches during routine stops. Sanusi warned officers against extorting citizens, confirming that police can only search mobile phones inside stations during formal criminal investigations.
Federal Capital Territory Police Commissioner Ahmed Sanusi addressed reporters in Abuja on Monday. He ordered residents to stop officers from checking their mobile devices during routine road stops.
”Don’t allow any police officers to search your phone and we’re saying this due to the abuse and extortive tendencies of some of our officers,” he said.
Sanusi admitted that some police officers abuse their authority to extort money from innocent drivers. He instructed all field officers to stop demanding phone access on highways. This directive addresses growing complaints over unlawful police harassment in Nigeria during daily traffic checks.
”It has been instructed that nobody should search any phone, especially when you just arrest somebody on the road and you start searching the person’s phone, suspecting that he is an internet fraudster,” he explained.
Legal Limits for Phone Searches
The police chief clarified that officers cannot inspect personal phones without proper arrest procedures. Police must first transport suspects to a station before examining digital evidence.
”This does not negate the fact that phones are also being used to commit crime. But of course, before such a thing can happen, the person must have committed the crime, must have been properly arrested and brought to the station, then when trying to uncover some evidence, you can search to see whether the phone or other items are being used to perpetuate the crime,” Sanusi stressed.
Sanusi stressed that stopping commuters randomly to demand phone access remains illegal. Officers cannot demand access based on simple suspicion alone. Citizens hold the right to protect their digital privacy on public roads.
”But for you to just stop anybody on the road and say bring your phone, let me search, is not legal,” he noted.
How Citizens Should Respond
Sanusi urged Abuja residents to actively resist unlawful demands from patrol teams. He advised citizens to raise an immediate alarm and request help from surrounding bystanders.
”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 open your phone, resist and ask other people to help you call the police. You will see our men there,” the Commissioner said.
The FCT Police Command promised quick intervention whenever citizens report aggressive officers. Sanusi re-affirmed his commitment to enforcing police accountability across the territory. Police units will monitor road checkpoints to catch policy violators.
