NIGERIA POLICE AND THE PHONE SEARCH YARN

For about two years now, there is a trend of Nigeria Police stopping and searching innocent youth’s phones for reasons best known to them.

Question that quickly comes to mind is if it’s right for a police officer to search your mobile phone during a routing stop and search exercise on the road. According to Lagos State Police PRO, Dolapo Badmus,” No officer has the right to check your mobile phone” she said. The inspector general of police, IGP Solomon Arase, also warned police officers who are in the habit of indiscriminate checking of personal information on mobile phones of members of the public to stop such practices with immediate effect.  “January 5, 2016 Vanguard".

From the words of Badmus, Arase, and generally speaking, it is wrong since the mobile phone is a private property. However, even as condemned by some high rank Police Officer, the habit seems to be what has become a thriving trend for some police officer who show off their Harassment prowess on harmless citizen who are bullied and shouted at to the extent they don’t even know the right way to handle such situation as refusing to give up their phone to be search is even seen as greater crime by the police men involved.

This is share Invasion of Privacy and abuse of authority. What is the reasonable ground that permits them to do that; one may question? This and more I sometimes ask myself. Why must they assume any youth in their twenties and early thirties is a yahoo boy? And after delaying you and finding nothing, they start to beg for money.

It’s so sad to see uniform men behave like this, and harass innocent citizens for no just cause. I practically experienced this recently and therefore felt the need to share this piece. On one faithful afternoon, taking a walk to ShopRite to go pick up something, with face cap to shade the sun, simply dressed on jean and long-sleeved shirt, sneakers and swinging my key as I walk, just before the entrance of the shoprite at Festac, I was double crossed by a yellow mini Danfo Bus with about five (5) police men inside , 4 men and one woman on complete police uniform. Thinking they were trying to reverse, next thing I know was two men coming out and demanding for my identification I smiles as it all look like film or a dream, because in my head am like “abi I don teleport go jand or in the midst of one kind xenophobic gangs of other Africans” ….before I could come back to unfolding all the many thoughts in my head my phone in my pocket have been removed by one of the Police men, the other was with my wallet, still puzzled, this time annoyed and very reluctant to answer their question ….I practically blanked out as all the question they ask was not entering my head but the thought of how to harass them back and make them pay for all this public intimidation course through my thought. Finally one of their question interest me as the one with my phone shouted, confirmed, he is yahoo yahoo… showing his colleague my phone contact list with a named saved as “AISHA MURTHAR” my former university class mate from katsina state, a good friend was my reply you can call if you want, one of them shouted shot-up…you think you can fool us, that’s an Indian name, all you yahoo yahoo boys… at that junction I felt nothing but pity for them at their ignorance and how to them by all these they were fighting crime in the society…without delay I applied emotional intelligence and parted ways with them after 5minuites there about.

Discussing my ordeal with friends later in the day brought to my realization that each and every one of them had such experience which makes me wonder if police officials will ever follow orders, do right and be our friends ever? because with the above, police is your friends acronyms will just remain mere words, as we both know they always do spiteful things that make people not be on a friendly level with them not to talk of like or love .