A woman confronted policemen in a viral video after they tried to take two young boys away. This happened after the officers searched the boys' phones.
The video was shared on Wednesday by an X user, @dammiedammie35. In the footage, the woman challenged the officers and demanded that they let the boys go.
"Are you crazy? These two boys are not going anywhere! You have to release them immediately," the woman shouted.
She also asked the officers why they were targeting young men. She said, "Is it every young boy that makes hair you’ll be targeting?"
One of the boys was recording the whole thing. He said the officers began taking them away while one officer was still checking his phone.
He explained, "When one officer was still checking my phone and was not even done, they pushed the other boy into the van and was slapping him."
An officer was heard explaining why they searched the boys' phones. He said, "When we wanted to check the phone, one of the boys was saying they can’t, that they’re doing illegal searches."
The officer then warned the boy, "If it’s your father that’s even the IG of Police, you’ll show respect to us first."
Another officer told the boy recording to "calm down," but he replied, "I won’t calm down, after forcing us into the bus."
The post that came with the video stated that the officers searched the boys’ phones. They also told them to call whoever they wanted. The X user claimed the woman and another person stopped the officers from taking the boys after what seemed like an illegal search.
The reasons for the police search and whether it was unlawful could not be confirmed by PUNCH Online.
This incident has sparked reactions on X. Users shared stories of similar experiences with police officers in Ikorodu, Lagos.
One user, #ARedhat, shared, "One told me they will kill me and dump my body in the trench. I have proof of everything. They mount their road block in Ikorodu Garage to Adamo Road." The user also claimed that some of the people involved were not police officers.
Another user, #The_Marteenez, claimed he had a similar experience in Ikorodu. He said young people were sometimes taken away in police vehicles and accused of being cultists or fraudsters.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Tijani Fatai, warned officers against searching people's phones during stop-and-search operations.
The CP said, "Our men have been warned not to search any phone from any individual. We are there to search the vehicles."
He told officers to focus on checking vehicles and verifying passengers. He added that officers acting within the law should not fear being recorded.
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