A former Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), James Tersugh Vandefan says a policeman is not committing any crime by arbitrarily stopping a person on the road and checking their phone.
Vandefan, a retired Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), stated this during an appearance on AIT Live, a popular current affairs programme on African Independent Television (AIT).
He said that the action was justified for the policeman to effectively detect crime.
Vandefan said, “Today, cybercrime has become something very endemic in our society and this (detecting crime) can be done by asking questions and atimes examining physically these things you see with these boys.”
When the interviewer asked if he knew that going through a person’s phone without a court warrant was illegal, Vandefan replied, “Well, if I stop you on the road and I want to take a look at your phone, I want to see your Facebook, I don’t think I’m committing any crime.”
The retired SARS commander added, “For me, I’m only asking you a simple question.
“It is your answers that will lead me beyond where I have started because I can’t detect crime by mere seeing you; I detect criime by asking you questions.
“I see you with a car, I now assess your age (and I know in Nigeria how difficult it is for a 20, 30 year old to have a car worth N7 million), I can’t assume on seeing you that something is not wrong with the way you’re driving a car, except I’m able to ask you a question, I know your family background, where you’re working and where you got money to buy these cars from.”
Watch video:
“If I stop you on road and I look at your phone and I wanna see ur Facebook, I don’t think I’m committing any crime” – former SARS Commander Vandefan Tersugh James (Rtd CSP)
How did dis lunatic join d Police force FGS!They all need dat psychiatric evaluation!! #SARSMUSTEND 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/ot7yRM5SJ0
— KAYCEE (@geokaycee) October 12, 2020
Vandefan’s submission came barely a day after the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu scrapped SARS over human rights violations.
SARS operatives have been accused of serially brutalising or harassing Nigerian youths, including by going through their phones and tagging them internet fraudsters before extorting huge sums of money from them in many instances.
Recall that former Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Zone 2 covering Lagos and Ogun States, CSP Dolapo Badmus said it was illegal for a policeman to go through an individual’s phone.
She stated this on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, as a panelist in one of the panel discussions held during the Social Media Week in Lagos.
Police Reforms Advocates, Segun “Segalink” Awosanya and Ruggedman were also panelists during the programme.
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