Falana to NBA: End police detention of innocent citizens

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, has asked the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to help “end illegal arrest and detention of innocent citizens by law enforcement agencies in the country”.

Falana said this in a statement welcoming lawyers to Lagos for the 2024 Annual Conference of the NBA.

Some youths who participated in the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest have been arrested and remanded.

Falana asked the NBA to ensure that the “right to protest is not criminalized in Nigeria by Judges and magistrates who have been issuing remand orders for prolonged detention of protesters”.

He also appealed to the NBA to use the conference as a springboard for the implementation of extant laws abolishing illegal arrest and detention, such as the Administration of Police Establishment Act and Criminal Justice Act.

Falana said the police and other law enforcement agencies have continued to breach the fundamental rights of suspects.

He added that the NBA should direct members of its human rights committee to accompany chief magistrates during monthly visits to police stations across the country.

“Such visits will end the incessant arrest and detention of suspects and other people as the Magistrates are empowered to grant bail to suspects, order the release of suspects or direct that suspects be arraigned in appropriate courts,” he said.

“Nigerian lawyers should apply the provisions of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017 to end the torture of suspects and other people in Nigeria.

“Let the police and other law enforcement officers be made to know that the penalty for subjecting suspects to torture is 25 years imprisonment without any option of fine and that officers who torture suspects to death are liable to be tried for murder.”

He also implored lawyers to provide free legal services to indigent citizens with genuine complaints.

“Instead of rejecting the complaints of indigent citizens on account of impecuniosity, lawyers should refer them to the offices of the Legal Aid Council, National Human Rights Commission and the Public Defender in each of the States of the Federation,” he said.