Lagos passes bill to stop parade of suspects

STUDY TOUR — From left: Business Development Manager, Wema Bank, Isolo branch, Oluwakemi Oladeinde; SS3 student of Ephraim School, Ibrahim Abubakar; Retail Product Manager, Toyin Peters; SS2 student of Ephraim School, Jessica Tminebiri, and Retail Cluster Head, Lagos Mainland, Folashade Adebayo, during the student’s study tour to understand the banking system, at the banks Ilupeju branch, in Lagos. Photo: Vanguard

LAGOS STATE House of Assembly, has passed an amended version of the Criminal Justice Law of the state barring the police from, parading suspects before the media.

The bill was passed at a sitting presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni, on behalf of the Speaker, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa.

Section 9(A) of the newly passed bill states: “As from the commencement of this law, the police shall refrain from parading any suspect before the media.”

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

A subsection of the bill also barred the police or any other agency from arresting a person “instead of any other person in a criminal matter.”

The bill adds that a person who is arrested “shall be given reasonable facilities for obtaining legal advice, bail or making arrangements for defence or release.

The bill stipulates that a suspect should be “accorded humane treatment, with the right to dignity of the person; not be 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.”

After a voice vote, the Deputy Speaker directed the acting Clerk of the House, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko, to transmit the bill to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for assent.

Falana hails Lagos Assembly for outlawing parade of suspects

 ....Tasks Sanwo-Olu to assent bill

Interim Chairman, Alliance on Surviving Coronavirus and Beyond, ASCAB, Femi Falana, SAN, commended the Lagos State House of Assembly for amending the Criminal Justice Law of the state barring the Police from parading suspects before the media.

Falana, in a statement, urged the judicial authorities to compel Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to assent to the bill without any delay. 

Femi Falana

The statement read: “Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have unanimously passed an amended version of the Criminal Justice Law of the state barring the police from, henceforth, parading suspects before the media.

Section 9(A) of the newly passed bill states: “As from the commencement of this law, the police shall refrain from parading any suspect before the media.” 

The ASCAB boss said: “While the bill has adopted the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 on the humane treatment of criminal suspects, it has outlawed the discriminatory and illegal parade of criminal suspects by law enforcement officers in the state. 

“The practice of parading suspects is illegal as it constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental right of criminal suspects to the presumption of innocence guaranteed by section 36 of the Constitution and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. 

“It is equally discriminatory as only lowly placed criminal suspects are exposed to media parade by the police and other law enforcement agencies."  

“Even though the incriminating statements procured from criminal suspects during media parades are not admissible during a trial in criminal courts they are used by law enforcement agencies to compel members of the public to participate in mob justice. 

“They are also used to blackmail Judges to convict criminal suspects, with or without evidence adduced by the prosecution. But for the culture of impunity which permeates the entire society, the illegal policy would have been stopped as the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of the West African States and Nigerian Courts have repeatedly condemned the media parade of criminal suspects by the police and other law enforcement agencies. 

“Given the clear and unambiguous provisions of the Constitution and the African Charter and having regard to the aforementioned judicial authorities we are compelled to urge Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to assent to the Bill without any delay.”