Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Tuesday Assayomo, has said severe consequences await police operatives on field duties involved in stopping youths and checking of incriminating information on their phones and laptops in the state.
He warned police officers with such unethical habits to desist forthwith or face severe consequences.
“To ensure strict compliance of the directive, Kwara Police Command’s special monitoring team has been set up and detailed to be on the lookout for deviant officers.”
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Okasanmi Ajayi, in Ilorin on Saturday, said ” the Command stands firmly against the indiscriminate stopping of youths in both private and public transportation and on the streets for the purpose of checking for incriminating information and eventual harassment and extortion by some policemen on field duties.”
The command advised “members of the public to insist on being taken to the nearest police station in the event of any policeman requesting they submit their phone sets or laptops for search.”
It further advised “home owners or tenants to demand search warrants authenticating the search of such dwelling places before the exercise be allowed.
“This is to forestall reports of indiscriminate ingress into homes and offices by police men and imposters alike on the excuse of searching and arrest of criminal elements,” the command added.