Torture illegal in Kaduna – Attorney General

The Attorney General of Kaduna State, Umma Hikima, has said that the tradition of torturing suspects to obtain confessional statement by security agents without their lawyers is now illegal in the state.

The Attorney General who was represented by the Director of Public Prosecution, Kaduna State Ministry of Justice, Bayero Dare said the development followed the signing into law of the administration of justice law by Governor Nasir El-Rufai in May 2017 which he described as “A radical departure from previous laws that have been existing since 1968 starting from Northern region when states were created and Kaduna State and others adopted it.”

Speaking in an interview with newsmen shortly after the opening session of a 3-day training for critical stakeholders on administration of Justice in Kaduna on promoting United Nations convention against torture yesterday, the Attorney General said the governor signed it and it effectively came into law on 29th of May 2017.

She said, “Now you can no longer be arrested for offence committed by someone else. Secondly, you cannot be interviewed by police officer in the absence of your legal practitioner.”

Earlier, Head of Office, Avocats SANS Frontieres France who organised the training in collaboration with Nigerian Human Rights Commission, Angela Uwandu, said the training was aimed at promoting the principles of United Nations convention against torture in Nigeria.