An Evaluation of Human Right Protection on Crime Suspect in Nigeria
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To evaluate the human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria
- To assess whether all human rights are observing in Nigeria
- To assess the causes of human right abuse in Nigeria
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The rights of the suspect under the Nigerian Criminal Justice System
In Nigeria, the rights of a suspect/accused person can be found in the statutes and case law. A suspect is equally entitled to the fundamental human rights entrenched in the Constitution. These rights include: Right to Life, Right to dignity of human person, Right to personal liberty, Right to fair hearing, Right to private and family life, Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Right to freedom of expression and the press. Right to peaceful Assembly and Association. Right to freedom from Discrimination. Right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria, The rights listed above are inalienable and should not be surrendered except as permitted by the Constitution. The right to life is surrendered only in execution of the sentence passed by a court of law. Right to personal liberty is suspended once there is reasonable suspicion of having committed a criminal offence. Under no circumstance should the right to dignity be trampled on as no one should be subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. There is no gainsaying that in practice, the police, as agents of the state are empowered to achieve a saner, regulated and orderly society through their duty of prevention and detection of crime, apprehension of offenders and preservation of law and order, run foul of the right to dignity of suspects. The court in Christie v. Leachinsky ruled that for an arrest to be lawful, the police must adequately respect the rights of an individual to liberty by ensuring that: They have some evidence to justify the arrest before it takes place; They disclose to the person under arrest the reasons for his arrest or offence; They release the person as soon as possible (within 48 hours). Or where the need so justifies; Bring him before the court within the specified period. In essence, no one is to be made to suffer bodily except by the legal manner imposed by the court for a breach of law. The above notwithstanding, the policeman in exercising the wide powers of arrest bestowed on him by Section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) and the Criminal Code effects arrest on his own reasonable suspicion. This simply means that once a policeman feels someone is about to commit an offence, he has the right to arrest such a person. There is an element of discretion or independent judgement available to the police in the discharge of their duties. This is in view to facilitate prevention of crimes. The case of Johnson v. Omorikwu illustrates the fact that the police can make arbitrary arrest which will be justifiable. Several cases of arbitrary arrest and inhuman treatment of citizens, all made under the guise of reasonable suspicion of attempting to commit offences, have over the years been reported in the newspapers with many others unreported. The Rights of a Suspect under the Nigerian Criminal Justice System These human rights violations by the law enforcement agencies have been condemned by various groups and individuals. Justice Paul Nwokedi once said: “
If the truth must be told, a lot of actions of the law enforcement agents portray the government of this country as condoning human rights violations. Indiscriminate arrest of innocent citizens and detentions do not augur well for human rights values. The practice of our law enforcement agencies arresting and remanding citizens in jail before the commencement of investigation of the allegation against the citizens has to be examined I also have to issue a note of warning against a developing method of our law enforcement agencies, “the taking of hostage” whereby a suspect’s wife or child or his mother or father or relation is arrested and detained in order to compel the alleged suspect to report himself to the police even though there may be no case to answer.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to an evaluation of human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on an evaluation of human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria. 200 staff of human right commission, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was on an evaluation of human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on an evaluation of human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria. Three objectives were raised which included: To evaluate the human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria, to assess whether all human rights are observing in Nigeria, to assess the causes of human right abuse in Nigeria. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of human right commission, Uyo. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up legal advisers, administrative staffs, senior staffs and junior staffs was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The national Human Rights Commission has tried in the protection of human rights but more still needs to be done in line with its mandate. The commission is urged to assist victims of human rights violation and seek appropriate redress and remedies on their behalf as mandated by the Act establishing it. Not much has been done in that regard. The Commission should also liaise with local and international organizations for the purpose of advancing the promotion and protection of human rights. Non-governmental organizations would be of immense assistance to the Commission in this area
Recommendation
Enlightenment programmes should be conducted for members of the Nigerian Police Force and other law enforcement agencies on the basic rights of suspects guaranteed by the law and the proper way to ensure protection.
REFERENCES
- See B.K. Murungi, “Trading Justice for Truth” Kayode Fayemi (ed.) Truth Commissions in Africa Deepening the culture of Constitutionalism Regional Institutions and Constitutional Development in Africa. Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja, 2003 p.121. 46
- See the Jos crisis for instance. People from various parts of the country are affected in one way or the other, and would be interested in knowing the outcome of the Panel set up to investigate the cause of the crisis
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