Police officers who search people’s phones will now be punished

The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has warned police officers in the command against searching people’s phones.

According to the police boss who addressed the officers at the command headquarters in Ilorin yesterday Thursday May 2nd, it was unethical for officers to search people’s phone.

He noted that doing such is tantamount to extortion which is a criminal offence that attracts a stiff penalty.

“It’s unethical to seize and start searching anybody’s mobile phone on the road. The practice of searching the phone of an individual on the road for evidence of internet fraud amounts to conducting a roadside investigation,” he stated

Speaking further, he said

“In some of these cases, the young men mostly university undergraduates are made to part with a little or as much as N2,000 for their releases or the release of their phones. The Command frowns at this ugly trend and will stop at nothing in identifying and dealing with culprits of these acts. It becomes a criminal offence if that (search) intends in extortion or done with an intent to extort. 

All policemen in this command, especially patrolmen are constantly being reminded that extortion while bearing firearms completes the ingredients of the offence of armed robbery.

“Henceforth, any policeman found to be engaging in any form of extortion while armed on the highway will be arrested, detained, tried and if found guilty, dismissed and charged with armed robbery,” he said

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