We Hold Your Brief

Dear Counsel, A distant relation of mine was arrested on March 7, 2017 at about 10.00p.m. He was taken to the Police Station. On the following day, a case of abduction and murder, was made against him. He was accused of abducting a girl. Actually, the said girl, was his girl friend, who lived with him for three years.

Last year, she fell sick and her boyfriend did not abandon her, as he ensured she received adequate medical attention. We have proof of this in the medical report. Her father in the village, requested for her to be brought home for treatment with traditional medicine. He felt that her sickness was such that orthodox medicine could not address it, and that it had to do with the deity which their forefathers used to worship which he, the father, refused to worship, as he claimed to be a Christian.

She travelled home by herself, as requested by her father. Later, we got to know that she had died. Her maternal relations here in Lagos, reported the case to the police, and alleged abduction and murder against the young man. They did not make any report of a missing person to the police, and did not report abduction in the three years that the couple lived together. If they did, why didn’t the police arrest the young man before her death? As if this was not enough, they went as far as requesting that the young man marry the corpse with over One Million Naira, which the poor boy does not have. The question is, was the boy responsible for the girl’s death? Are they right in their action? What does the law say?

Effiong Udofia, Lagos. Dear Mr. Udofia, What you need to do first in this situation, is to brief a Lawyer to handle this case. He must apply for bail for your relation, and if the police refuse to grant bail, he must make a bail application to court.

Now, the issue of what killed the girl can only be determined through police investigation, which of course, would include an autopsy, accompanied by a report by a Pathologist. It is only after this, that the accused can be properly arraigned on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in the office of the Attorney-General.

After all these conditions are met, the case can then be tried by a Judge, who would make the necessary pronouncements after hearing evidence and arguments from the Lawyers. Your relation cannot therefore, be adjudged guilty outside of this procedure.

On the issue of adduction, to some extent the age of the girl would determine the liability of your relation. If she was below the age of 16, the boy would have a case to answer, even if she lived with him out of her own volition. Cap 77 Laws of the Federation at Chapter 30 Section 361 – 362 of the Criminal Code provides for this. Chapter 20 of the same law, frowns very seriously on such fetish practices, like forcing someone to ‘marry’ a corpse.

So, the proper thing to do, is to get a Lawyer to secure bail for your relation, and ensure that due process in followed in the police investigations.