Errors And Liabilities Of The Officers Who Dehumanizes UI Graduate On Viral Video – AKINLOYE SEGUN OFFERS TO PROVIDE FREE LEGAL SERVICE

A human right activist and a legal expert, Akinloye Segun Esq has decided to offer a free legal service to the University of Ibadan graduate, Towobola who was traumatized by the police on a video that went viral on social media last week.

In his legal advice to SOJ WORLDWIDE ONLINE NEWS, he stated his legal opinion to the ‘show of shame’ by the police officers who are already in police net in Lagos as directed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu.

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According to Akinloye in his legal opinion, he said,

“For an officer to successfully invoke these laws that give them authority to act, they must be seen to adhere to all laws concerning the arrest or detention citizens. These rights are known as the Miranda rights and are the rights of an accused person to (SEE LEGAL OPINION BELOW):

1. Be informed of the purpose of his arrest immediately upon arrest (Section 35(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act).

2. Keep silent or avoid answering any question (Section 35(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria).

3. Obtain a legal practitioner of his choice or where he is indigent be provided one for free (Section 35(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria).

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Errors and Liabilities of the Officers.

The video in itself depicts a high level of incompetence and vagrant abuse of the law by officers of the Nigerian Police force by failing to apply elementary but fundamental principles of the law. It stands as primary evidence in the event a suit on breach of laws and fundamental human rights are instituted against the police force as follows:

1. The officers failed to follow laid down procedures in the arrest of the suspected thief/kidnapper and the lady in question. The proper procedure would be reciting the Miranda rights e.g. ‘Mr. A, you are under arrest for stealing and kidnapping. You have the right to remain silent or avoid answering any question, for whatsoever you say would be used against you in the court of law’. This is because any arrest made in contravention of Miranda rights is unlawful, the only exceptions being where he is caught in the course of committing an offence or immediately after, or after escaping lawful custody.

2. The video does not depict any evidence to support the allegations that the man in question is a thief as well as a kidnapper as claimed in the video.

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3. The possibility of the lady being an accomplice to the crime alleged was not established as at the time of her arrest.

4. The nature of and manner of interrogation meted out to the lady is out of line and unrelated to the subject matter of the arrest executed.

5. There is no basis whatsoever for insinuating or concluding that the lady in question was/is a prostitute. Assuming the allegation of prostitution is true, it is not punishable under the laws of the Federation and as such any arrest made under same would be illegal.

6. There was no basis for putting the lady in handcuffs as she was not violent or attempting to escape as seen in the video (See Section 73 of the Criminal Code, Section 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act).

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Remedies.

The Nigerian Police Force in a bid to remedy the situation and earn the trust of the citizens must be seen to be decisive by the application of the following steps.

1. A proper and thorough investigation on the veracity of the elements that constitute the allegation levelled against the young man and the lady.

2. The arrest, investigation, prosecution and dismissal of all officers involved.

3. An unreserved apology on national media to the lady in question.

4  Adequate compensation for the inhuman treatment, degradation and trauma suffered by the victim.

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LEGAL OPINION

On the 22nd day of July 2020, a viral video hit the internet containing disturbing and traumatizing acts of members of the Nigerian Police Force towards a citizen of Nigeria. The video is a cause for concern as members of the Ibadan division of the Nigerian Police Force executed an arrest where a young lady could be seen in handcuffs being interrogated in a dehumanizing manner while exhibiting flagrant disregard for due process and the law in general.
The officers in the video interrogated the young lady in Yoruba dialect and we could clearly hear threats, unwarranted questions as well as insinuations that the lady was involved in prostitution. There were claims that the man she was with, is the actual subject matter of the arrest, was a thief and kidnapper.

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Governing Laws
Section 4 of the Nigerian Police Act state that “The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or outside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of this or any other Act”. In pursuance of their duties, members of the Nigerian police force must be of good conduct and abide by the laws of the Federation.

This presupposes that they do not infringe on the right to dignity enshrined in Section 34(1) of the Nigeria Constitution which states that “every Nigerian individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and accordingly (a) No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment”.

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While members of the Nigerian Police Force have the authority to arrest anyone with or without a warrant, there are laid down principles which they must adhere to.
Section 24(1) of the Nigerian Police Act states as follows: “In addition to the powers of arrest without warrant conferred upon a police officer by section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Act, it shall be lawful for any police officer and any person whom he may call to his assistance, to arrest without warrant in the following cases- [Cap. C41.] (a) any person whom he finds committing any felony, misdemeanour or simple offence, or whom he reasonably suspects of having committed or of being about to commit any felony, misdemeanour or breach of the peace; (b) any person whom any other person charged with having committed a felony or misdemeanour; (c) any person whom any other person- (i) suspects of having committed a felony or misdemeanour; or (ii) charges with having committed a simple offence, if such other person is willing to accompany the police officer to the police station and to enter into a recognizance to prosecute such charge.”.

Furtherance to that, Section 25 of the Nigerian Police Act states that “Any warrant lawfully issued by a court for apprehending any person charged with any offence may be executed by any police officer at any time notwithstanding that the warrant is not in his possession at that time, but the warrant shall, on the demand of the person apprehended, be shown to him as soon as practicable after his arrest”.

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Akinloye Segun Esq.
Managing Partner, Oxford Legal Place.

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