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:
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.