Outrage as Police ask Motorists to open tongues for inspection

Outrage as Police ask Motorists to open tongues for inspection

Nigerians have raised alarm, alleging men of Police force of asking motorists to open their tongues for inspection,  a development which, according to them, seems strange and  has led to harassment.

One Dr Akpezi complained on social media that Police now arrest whoever his or her tongue is blue after inspection by the police on stop and search.

He said:  “This is quite embarrassing to tweet to say the least. I can imagine a police officer stopping me on the streets of Abuja and asking me to show them my tongue 👅 🤷🏻‍♀️. What if it’s blue, is that reason enough for an arrest??? I really want to know.

“Is there a laid down protocol for tox screening in the NPF? Kindly educate us!!! Because searching someone’s tongue is clearly an invasion of privacy. Do you just stop random people on the road and ask them to show you their tongues…..

Reacting, the police Public Relations Officer in delta state, Bright Edafe however said: “Okay, first thing to note is that the primary duties of the police is protection of life and property. If the policemen are doing that to save our youths from drug abuse, it will be in order, but if it’s for the purpose of extortion, then it’s completely bad and unacceptable.

His reaction however did not go down well with some Nigerians, describing such act by the Police as illegal.

@shortmandevil said: “Which kind talk be this? Are you saying if I lick a flavored colored sweet or eat red almond and my tongue is red then that automatically means I’m on drugs? What kind of sh!t thinking is that? Dreads don’t mean drugs. Wake up!”

@only 1 jockfreshprince said: “Please enlighten me where it is stated in Police stop & search process that you’ll be asked to bring out your tongue for searching?

Your colleagues from Ugborikoko Division are misbehaving on Airport rd. Profiling young boys to search their tongues. Ridiculous!

One officer with no name tag wasted almost 30minutes of my time insisting he wants to search my tongue cos I have dreads on. Another came with worn off tag “Oba M” reeking of alcohol said they should bundle me to the station 😂😂😂

I asked simple question: Why do you want to search my tongue? His uneducated response was “why I am interrupting his order”😂

Clearly these officers are behaving unprofessional. Bcos I stood on my rights and questioned his authority, he deliberately wasted my time.”

@Oyeborn2win said “What nonsense. Can police reform even solve this bad attitudes of police? 98% of policemen are bad and not psychologically, and well trained to join the service. Things need to be done ASAP on the Nigerian police to prevent another #endsars”

Responding to the thread,  the PPRO said: “How do I explain this for u to understand now, drug abuse is destroying our youths, often time, we arrest young guys, take them for drug test, and they test positive for 8 out of 10 hard drugs, and we try to advice and help them, it’s more serious than u think.”