The spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, has said that police officers are empowered to search individuals’ bags and pockets without a warrant.
Edafe made this known in a post on his X handle on Saturday, August 23, while parading a suspect caught with a firearm.
“Do the police have the right to search you randomly without a search warrant? The answer is yes — to search you, your bag, or your pockets, but not your house or your phone. This suspect was standing at a club around 5 a.m., looking suspicious, when RRS operatives stopped and searched him, and this gun was recovered,” he wrote.
In a video he shared, Edafe explained how the Rapid Response Squad, on visibility patrol along DBS Road by Don and Master, intercepted a man carrying a bag in a suspicious manner. Upon searching him, officers recovered a firearm, a magazine, and ammunition.
Further investigation revealed the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Bassey Udoh from Akwa Ibom, was notorious for scaling fences at night to steal generators.
“Bassey Udoh did not only have this in his possession. Our findings showed that he usually sneaks into compounds between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. to steal generators, sometimes carrying them through the gate or over the fence,” Edafe said.
Udoh admitted to having stolen from about nine houses since starting the crime two months ago.
“I’ve not entered more than nine houses. I usually sell the generators for N35,000 to N40,000,” he confessed.
On the recovered firearm, he claimed it was not meant for robbery but to show off at a club.
“I wasn’t using it to rob. It was just for flexing at the club. I tucked it in my waist,” he said.
