Police Have The Right to Search You Without Warrant - Delta Command Spokesman
By: Israel Adeleke
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports as gathered that the the spokesperson for the Delta state police command, SP Bright Edafe, has stated that if there is reasonable suspicion, police officers have the right to search people's pocket and bags without a warrant.
OTN News further reports as gathered that the spokesperson stated this on his X handle, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, while sharing the arrest of a suspected thief caught with a firearm.
According to him, “do the police have the right to search you randomly without a search warrant? The answer is yes; search you and not your houses or your phones. But to search you, your bag, pockets, is allowed."
Giving his reasons for saying this, Edafe said, a young man was standing at a club around 5am looking suspicious and carrying a bag in a suspicious manner, then the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, (RRS), intercepted and searched him, after the search, they recovered a gun and ammunition from him.
Edafe further explained that, further investigation revealed that the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Bassey Udoh from Akwa Ibom, had been involved in stealing generators.
“Bassey Udoh did not only have this in his possession. In the course of our investigation, we discovered that he usuaully scale through the fence of people’s houses while they’re sleeping and steals their generator.
“At times use the gate to come out and or also take it out through the fence. The time of their operation are usually between the hours of 4am and 5am,” Edafe added.
The suspect, who admitted he had been in Delta State for three years, confessed to have entered about nine houses to steal generators since he started the “business” two months ago.
“I’ve not entered more than nine people’s houses. Some people buy the generator for N40,000 or N35,000,” Udoh said.
When asked about the gun, he claimed he was not using it for robbery but for showoff at a club.
“I was holding it, I did not use it to rob. It was for flexing at a club. I put it in my waist,” he said.
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