We know that every human being has a number of liberties, rights and freedom. These things are known and called fundamental human rights. These are rights which individuals are naturally given to everybody by nature. That is to say, these are inherent rights known to be inborn in every born child.
These fundamental human rights are so numerous. They include freedom of existence; freedom of movement without being restricted; freedom of occupation, that is one having the right to undertake any type of occupation one wants to engage in; freedom to own property anywhere one may afford to do so; freedom to marry and to bear children; freedom of association; freedom of speech, having the right to express one’s opinion and to say what one wants to say; freedom of choice and above all freedom of worship.
Before progressing in this discussion, it must be necessary to point out that although man has been bestowed with these fundamental human rights, these could be controlled or restricted by the law. These can only be implemented through the order of a court which has the legal authority to impose such a restriction of fundamental human rights. There is only one condition under which such restrictions could be effected. That is if one goes contrary to the law by committing a criminal act.
Once such happens, the police could arrest such a person and there becomes the loss of right of freedom.
Unfortunately in our country particularly in certain parts of the country more often than not, the Nigeria police given the legal authority to arrest and detain accused persons by every stretch of imagination have been seen to be abusing people’s fundamental human rights.
Although the law specifies that once a person becomes an accused and is detained by the police, such an accused still has rights to be granted bail within twenty four hours. That is to say, such an accused must be granted bail by the police under any circumstances unless the person is accused of any of those crimes that are not bailable. These include murder and few others, may be arson etc.
However, it is a well known fact that the police have been accused of massive abuses of people’s fundamental human rights in different ways. In the first place, the police officials do not grant accused on bails within the stipulated twenty four hour period. It is evident that the police officials once an accused has been arrested and detained, such an accused is often kept over a long period without being granted bail simply because the police would want the suspect to pay certain sum of money before being released on bail.
The police do this by dildarling the process of releasing the person; by giving all kinds of excuses such as there are no papers to process the release; the investigating officer is not available; the Divisional Crime Officer is attending a meeting or conference outside the station and therefore there is no competent officer to sign the bail documents etc.
The sole purpose of all these unsustainable excuses is to get more money from the accused because, no human being worth living can last more than one day in a police cell which those who have visited it regard them as “earthly hell.” Earthly hell indeed because of the type of horroundous conditions in every and any cell in this country. Some may say, are even worse than “hell fire.”
Conditions in the cells are as horrible and beyond the endurance of any tough person.
In the first place, Nigerian police cells are so congested with sometimes hardened criminals. These have constituted themselves into the legal authorities of these cells. They have inside the cells court officials, ranging from security officer one, two or three depending on the given assignment; they have court clerk, prosecutors and judges inside the cell. Once a new accused is brought in, the first experience is for such an accused to be asked several questions as to what type of crime brought him into the cell. If he fails to answer promptly and intelligently, he is subjected to the first round of slap that may send thundering lights out of his eyes. In fact, if his answer is that he is brought in because he was accused of stealing a telephone handset for instance, he will be given another clapping slap because they will tell him, “idiot, you went and stole a common handset when people of your age group would be robbing banks, snatching vehicles of high cost etc, you merely went and stole handset.” Then another slap with more abuses rented on him.
If he survives the first round of inquisition, the next thing is to find out, “what did you bring for the crovo of the cell?” probably, the new cell inhabitant may be astonished at what is going on. Unless he brought in good cash, he would be asked to go and face a pool of excrement at the corner of the cell in the same room housing more people than the cell was meant for.
There was a story of a seventy year old man brought into a cell. After the initial drilling, one of the hardened criminals in the cell bent down and started to warm and sharpen his right palm on the floor. The old man wondered what the man was doing as he was sharpening his palm on the bare cemented floor. As he was doing this, the accused was standing, wondering while the hardened criminal continued to sharpen his palm yet eyeing the new inmate. He suddenly sprang up, moved to the wall and slapped the wall with all energy in him, just to ensure that his palm was very reddish and ready to go. He took a look at his palm, behold it was very reddish. He shook his head in approval that his palm was now ready for a “kill” he turned to the old man and slapped him with brute force. The old man fell on the ground groaning in pain. Everybody in the cell was laughing at him.
He thought that it was all over, he did not know that the worse was yet to come. One of the most hefty men in the cell, carried him high and asked him to begin to curse the Police Commissioner and to render all kinds of abusive words on him. “CPO, you are a bastard man who eats all the money meant for the improvement of police barracks. Your mama, your papa, all will go to hell.” He shouted on command of the “krovo” of the cell.
Then it was a session of inquiry to know why at his age he was brought into the cell. In response, he said, “my children, I did not commit any crime I know of. I was only accused of allowing one of my tenants to escape police arrest when they came to arrest him for insulting one of our neighbours.” The chief officer in the cell asked him, “so you are a landlord who peppers tenants in this city?” he quickly responded, “do I look like a landlord? I am just a mere caretaker,” he uttered in a hurry lest they would ask him to bring a large sum of money before they could free him from flogging and beating in the cell, his age notwithstanding. He was lucky that another accused was brought into the same cell. Then they turned to the new inmate, for another horrible session to begin for him.
As the old man’s name was called out for release, he almost forgot his clothes anxious to rush out of an earthly hell.
Police cell in Nigeria in fact are not even suitable for the forest beasts not to talk of human beings. The police are happy to detain persons in their cells because the more one stays, the more money he probably would like to pay in order to get out at all costs.
Poor citizens, do they know that they are not supposed to pay kobo to bail out their relations, friends and colleagues who have fallen short of the law? Yet, the police would or must insist on one paying something before one is released. Yet, the person would be asked to sign a paper saying, “I did not pay anything to be released on bail.” What a criminal act.
It is for this type of behavior that Nigerian citizens dislike their police and can go to any length not to defend them if they are facing ordeals. Can Nigeria police change? The language of “reforms” has no meaning to the police because no amount of criticism can make the Nigerian police change. Never,
