Police officer recalled to Force HQ for searching Lagosian’s phone
The police officer seen in a viral video trying to gain access to the phone of a Lagosian, has been recalled to the Force Headquarters to face disciplinary action.
In the video that went viral last week, the officer, Opeyemi Kadiri, was seen harrassing the young man for refusing to unlock his mobile phone.
In an interview on Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, on Monday, Lagos Police Spokesperson, Ben Hundeyin, said the Force headquarters had demanded his transfer for reasons, one of which was an attempt to break the victim’s phone despite telling the officer the new directive on phone searching.
“I got wind of it (the case) on Wednesday and ordered the officer to report at the headquarters on Thursday, which he did, and after I spoke to him and established that he misbehaved.
“He was handed over to the provost department, and he has been there, but we got a directive from the Force Headquarters that he should be transferred to Abuja. So, he has been transferred to Abuja.
“Further update will come from the headquarters, and we can’t say anything until the disciplinary process concludes with their verdict,” he said.
On July 20, the Force Spokesperson, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi in a tweet, said police officers have no right to search phones.
“No policeman has the right to check one’s phone anywhere except the phone is an exhibit in a case under investigation. Any policeman who does that is not a policeman but rather a scavenger.”
Hundeyin also stressed the issue during the interview and described the act as an invasion of privacy, contrary to the modus Operandi of searching for suspicious individuals.
“The law empowers a police officer to stop and search you if he has reasonable suspicion. The officer has the right to ask the right questions as he deems fit”.
“They are not allowed to go through anybody’s phone,” he said, adding that only searches featuring cars and persons are permitted.
The police, in recent times, have punished deviant officers across the country found culpable of misconduct especially as it maintains the campaign against cleansing the system of rotten eggs and enhancing a good image of the force.
Follow us on social media
