March 16, (THEWILL) – The recent directive by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to police operatives to stop parading criminal suspects a few days after the Police headquarters in Abuja had done so, is not just self-indicating but also a harsh reminder of the old saying that habits die hard. This inhuman treatment of suspects is at the heart of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015.
Yet on February 4, 2025, 10 years later, the Nigeria Police Force paraded several suspects arrested in possession of assault rifles, including a shocking case involving a Reverend Father. In a video shared by TVC, the Police Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, expressed surprise while addressing journalists about the recovery of an assault rifle from the Reverend Father.
According to the station, Adejobi, who paraded the suspects, remarked “that as an educated individual and a religious leader, the Reverend Father should have been aware of the legal and ethical implications of possessing such a weapon.” That is the sorry sight you witness of television regularly across police commands in the country.
It is a sad commentary on the practice of rule of law in the country that it had to take a directive in February this year from Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to the IGP to the practice before sanity is, hopefully, to prevail.
However, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun had spoken on the same subject before the AGF did. That was when she, in January this year, reportedly stressed the importance of adherence to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015,” particularly provisions prohibiting arrest in lieu, inhumane treatment of suspects, and the mandatory electronic recording of confessional statements.”
She reminded the police that under Section 7 of the ACJA, it is illegal to arrest family members or associates in place of a suspect. She called for internal disciplinary measures within the Nigeria Police Force to ensure that personnel do not engage in unlawful practices.
As Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has noted, five previous judgements by Federal High Courts and ECOWAS court had affirmed that the parade of criminal suspects is unlawful.
He said, “The public parade of suspects violates the fundamental right to the presumption of innocence guaranteed by Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
The question to be asked is this. Does every police station have a legal desk as recommended in the ACJA? It is possible, just for the asking, that top police officers have not acquainted themselves with this requirement in the ACJA.? What about obedience to the affirmations of the Federal High Court and ECOWAS courts? This is the time to act on the law.
To underscore the impunity with which the provision in the ACJA has been violated serially, recall that the only seven States have domesticated the Act. They are Anambra, Ekiti, Ondo, Enugu, Lagos, Oyo, and Rivers. The F.C.T is automatically included under federal administration.
Yet, Police Commands in all these states have been parading suspects recklessly.
For example, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu signed the Administration of Criminal Justice (Amendment) Law (ACJL) of Lagos State on September 30, 2021.
The provisions in the law also include conducting criminal proceedings through audio and video conferencing platforms, powers of Chief Magistrate to visit police stations, compensation to victims of crimes, and protective measures for victims and witnesses.
Interestingly, on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, the Attorney-General of Lagos State and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, lamented at an event that, “one of the major challenges is the non-compliance with Section 9a (of ACJL) by security agencies; the law states that no suspect should be paraded on media; there are reasons for this, for example, in cases where the court finds the suspect not guilty and acquits him, what becomes of him.?” He added that the state is still making “efforts to ensure that police officers conduct proper investigation and video, including recording statements by suspects at the station upon arrest or in presence of a lawyer.”
Similar scenarios are playing out in the seven other ACJL compliant states, not to talk of states that are yet to implement the Act.
How the new IGP directive intends to implement this directive is yet to be seen. Recall that Spokesperson ACP Adejobi even said the directive had been previously sent to police formations across the country, yet the barbaric practice goes on.
For full compliance, we call on the relevant authorities to embark on a massive public awareness campaign and to rise swiftly to the occasion by prosecuting erring police operatives found breaking the law.
An enlightened public is always difficult to manipulate or deceive, at least in matters affecting their rights. And police officers’ sanction for disobeying the directive would serve as a deterrent to others.
Moreover, we urge states that are yet to implement the ACJA to do so and ensure that they walk their talk. The relevant CSOs and the media, we urge, should bring their reportage and monitoring skills to bear in seeing that the new directives by the AGF, the CJN and the IGP are implemented without further delay.
