The Delta State Police Command has issued a clarification stating that police officers possess the legal right to search individuals’ bags, pockets, and other personal belongings without obtaining a search warrant. This announcement, which has generated widespread reactions and debates across social media platforms, was made following the arrest of a suspected thief found in possession of a firearm.
According to the command’s spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe, who communicated the directive through his official X handle on Saturday, August 23, the statement was released while parading a criminal suspect arrested in the early hours of the morning. Edafe emphasized that although the police are restricted from searching people’s homes or private mobile phones without a court-issued warrant, officers are nevertheless empowered to conduct stop-and-search operations on individuals and their immediate possessions whenever there is sufficient ground for suspicion.
He backed up this claim with an example, narrating how officers of the Rapid Response Squad apprehended a man at about 5 a.m. outside a club. The individual, who reportedly appeared suspicious, was stopped and searched, leading to the shocking discovery of a firearm, a magazine, and live ammunition inside his bag. “This chap was standing at a club around 5 a.m. looking suspicious when operatives of the Rapid Response Squad intercepted and searched him, and this gun was recovered,” SP Edafe explained in a recorded video that has since gone viral.
Subsequent investigations identified the suspect as 39-year-old Bassey Udoh, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, who had been residing in Delta State for the past three years. Police reports further revealed that Udoh specialized in breaking into compounds during the early hours of the morning, particularly between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., where he would steal generators while residents were fast asleep. SP Edafe explained that Udoh sometimes scaled fences to gain entry and, in other instances, used open gates to cart away stolen items unnoticed.
“Bassey Udoh did not only have this in his possession. In the course of our investigation, we discovered that he usually scaled through the fence of people’s houses while they’re sleeping and stole their generators. At times, he used the gate to come out or also took it out through the fence,” Edafe disclosed. He added that the suspect had consistently carried out this criminal operation for several weeks before he was eventually caught.
During interrogation, Udoh admitted to committing multiple thefts across different homes within the state, confessing to stealing from approximately nine houses in the last two months alone. In his own words, he admitted: “I’ve not entered more than nine people’s houses. Some people buy the generator for N40,000 or N35,000.”
When asked about the recovered firearm, Udoh denied using it for robbery or violent crime, claiming instead that the weapon was purely for show. According to him, he had taken the firearm along as an accessory to display while hanging out 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 while being paraded by the police.
The case has since stirred up mixed reactions online, with many Nigerians questioning the extent of police powers to search individuals without warrants, while others praised the officers for apprehending a dangerous suspect who had been terrorizing neighborhoods by stealing generators. The Delta State Police Command, however, has maintained its stance that such searches are lawful when carried out on suspicious persons in public spaces, reiterating that officers remain restricted from searching homes and digital devices like phones without a duly obtained court order.
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