The Inspector General of Police has banned the rank and file of the Nigerian Police Force from illegally accessing the phones of Nigerians.
The ban was contained in a circular to Police Commands across the country.
The instruction form the Inspector General of Police became necessary due to some police men who would flout privacy rights of law abiding citizens by stopping and searching their phones without recourse to legal processes.
Officer in Charge of Complaint Response Unit (CRU) of the Nigeria Police, Abayomi Shogunle tweeted:
IGP CIRCULAR TO @PoliceNG COMMANDS: Ban Illegal Accessing of Mobile Phones.
Protecting Rights to private&family life, contact @PoliceNG_CRU— CP Abayomi Shogunle, Ph.D., 𝘧𝘴𝘪 (@YomiShogunle) January 4, 2016
With this order, the Police are unable to search phones f civilians under any pretext without first obtaining a search warrant from a competent court with jurisdiction.
