Two police officers were arrested after being caught on camera harassing people by forcing them to check their phones.
Chinedu, a Twitter user, took to his timeline to share a video of the cops harassing one of his friends.
“Is there anything new under the sun?”
“My friend was harassed by the police today while he was on his way for a photo shoot,” he captioned the video.
Explaining how the incident happened, the voice of a man suspected to be the victim, was heard saying: “So, I was going for a job, this policeman stopped me, collected my phone and was searching me. But the Inspector-General of police said on Twitter that you should not search my phone. Why are you searching my phone?”
According to the Lagos Police Command, the officers searched the phones while conducting a stop and search.
Opeyemi Kadiri, force number 509745, was one of the officers.
Disappointed with the officers’ behaviour, Lagos Police Commissioner Abiodun Alabi ordered their immediate arrest, vowing that he would not tolerate harassment by his men.
In an update on the situation, Lagos Police Spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin stated that the officers would be investigated and prosecuted.
“The officer who searched the civilian’s phone has been handed over to the provost for disciplinary action, pending their transfer to Force Headquarters, Abuja, for further disciplinary measures.
“The video clearly shows assault on the part of the officer. Further, it was established that there was no extortion, nor was there any arrest or detention,” Hundeyin added
Prior to this development, the Lagos police spokesperson stated that no office has the authority to search the phones of members of the public.
According to Hundeyin, any officer who engages in such behaviour is not a police officer, but a scavenger.
