The Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ahmed Sanusi, has urged residents to refuse any attempt by police officers to search their mobile phones during routine stop-and-search operations, describing such actions as contrary to the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, Sanusi said police officers and personnel of other security agencies are prohibited from demanding access to citizens’ phones on the roadside merely on suspicion that they are involved in internet fraud or other criminal activities.

He explained that the directive was introduced following complaints of abuse of power, harassment and extortion by some security operatives, stressing that every police officer is expected to comply fully with the IGP’s order.

“It has been clearly stated that, of course, due to the abuse and extortion tendencies of some officers and men of not only the police but even other sister agencies,’’ Sanusi said.

“It has been instructed that nobody should search any phone, especially when you just arrest somebody on the road, and you say bring your phone, and you start searching because you are suspecting the person to be Yahoo Yahoo.

“This does not negate the fact that phones are also being used to commit crime.’’

The police commissioner clarified that while mobile phones can serve as evidence during criminal investigations, officers cannot lawfully demand access to them during roadside encounters without due process.

According to him, a suspect must first be lawfully arrested in connection with a crime and taken to a police station before investigators can seek to examine the person’s phone as part of an investigation.

“But of course, before such a thing can happen, the person must have committed a crime, must have been properly arrested, and brought to the station,’’ he said.

“Then, when trying to uncover some evidence, you can now start searching to see whether your phone or other items are being used to commit or perpetrate such a crime.”

Sanusi therefore advised residents not to surrender their phones if confronted by officers demanding to search them on the road, but instead seek assistance from members of the public and immediately contact the police emergency or complaint lines.

“But for you to just stop anybody on the road and say bring your phone; let me search. You have some amount on your phone.

“That’s why, 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 agree.

“Don’t open your phones; resist. Ask the nearby people to help you call the police hotline, emergency line.”

The FCT police boss added that residents in other parts of the country who encounter similar incidents should promptly report the officers involved to the Commissioner of Police in their respective state commands for appropriate action.