Mixed Reactions Trail Lagos Bill Barring Parade Of Suspects

MIXED reactions have continued to trail the recent passage of an amended version of the Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State by the House of Assembly barring parade of suspected criminals before the media by the police.

Section 9 ( A) of the bill passed on Monday at a sitting presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshilokun- Sanni states: “As from the commencement of this law, the police shall refrain from parading any suspect before the media.”

The proposed law further states: “A person who is arrested shall be given reasonable facilities for obtaining legal advice, bail or making arrangements for defense or release.

“A suspect should also be accorded humane treatment, with the right to dignity of person; not subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment; be brought before the court as prescribed by this law or any other written law; or be released conditionally or unconditionally.”

The bill also stipulates the conditions under which a policeman can arrest a person without warrant, one of which is that the person must be reasonably suspected to unlawfully be in possession of firearms or other such dangerous instruments.

While the proposed law has been hailed, it has also received knocks, though it is yet to be signed into law by Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu.

Reacting to the passage of the bill, the Programme Officer of Human Rights Law Service ( HURILAWS), Collins Okeke Esq, described it as a good development, adding that when officially signed into law, it would help discard the practice that “has been prohibited long ago.”

“The Nigerian Constitution provides that every person is presumed innocent until proven guilt by a court of competent jurisdiction. A good example is the case of the young lady, Chidinma, who was recently paraded before the media and was presumed guilty even before being arraigned before a court and a judge.

“It is quite unfortunate that we don’t practice the jurist system or jury trial, which, in itself, is a lawful proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions,” Okeke said.

To the HURILAWS official, what the media trial does is to bias the mind of the trial judge or the public against the suspect.

“I understand the police want to show that they are working, but there are other ways to do it. Once a suspect is paraded, he or she should not be made to appear before a court or a judge/ magistrate.”

On whether a law made by a State House of Assembly is binding on a federal institution such as the Nigeria Police Force, the human rights lawyer said: “It will bind on them. The day- to- day criminal procedure in Nigeria is guided by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act ( ACJA), which was signed into law in 2015. It repealed the Criminal Procedure Act ( CPA) and Criminal Procedure Code ( CPC), which were handed down to us by the British Colonial Administration.

“The constitution says that every person arrested or detained on suspicion of commission of a criminal offence shall not be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment. However, these provisions of the law are not respected in practice. So, I think the Lagos State House of Assembly has taken into consideration the yearnings of the people.”

However, differing from the above view, Abubakar Sani Esq, described the bill as dead on arrival, arguing that the police are outside the legislative competence of the state

House of Assembly under the 1999 Constitution ( as amended).

Referencing item 45 and 68 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution, he stated that a federal law established the Nigerian Police Force and other government security services.

“If you read item 45 along with item 68 of the Exclusive Legislative List in Part I, as well as Paragraph 2 ( a) of Part III, both in the Second Schedule of the Constitution, it clearly and expressly states therein the above claim. In other words, the exclusive power of the National Assembly over the police extends to offences ( being incidental and supplementary to the specific powers under item 45),” he said.