Nigerian Navy And The Detained Suspects – TheNigerialawyer

The Navy should work within the laws of the country

To prohibit the illegal arrest and detention of the Nigerian
people the constitution has decreed that any person detained and
not granted bail by the Nigeria Police Force or any other security
agency shall be arraigned in a competent court of law within a
maximum period of 48 hours.

In many instances, the courts have condemned the indiscriminate
arrest and detention of citizens and awarded damages to victims in
deserving cases. But such judicial indictment and administrative
interventions have not ended the reckless violation of the
fundamental rights of citizens to personal liberty and dignity
guaranteed by the nation’s constitution and other international
human rights instruments which have been ratified by the federal
government.

For the past two months, renowned legal practitioner, Mr. Femi
Falana, SAN, has been having a running battle with the authorities
of the Nigerian Navy over the alleged detention of about 150
Nigerians and foreigners. According to Falana, some of the suspects
have been held incommunicado without trial for more than two years.
As if that is not enough, the orders of two competent courts for
the release of some of these suspects have been treated with
disdain and ignored by the Nigerian navy. A few of the detainees
are military personnel while the rest are civilians who ordinarily
are not subject to the provisions of the Armed Forces Act.

Apart from 10 of the detainees that are said to have been held
inside a vessel in Marina, Lagos, the rest are detained in military
detention facilities in Lagos, Abuja, Warri, Port Harcourt and
Calabar. All the detainees are alleged to have been denied access
to their family members, lawyers and doctors. Apparently
embarrassed by Falana’s disclosure, the authorities initially
denied holding any of the detainees in its custody. But when Falana
revealed the names of 40 of the detainees and their places of
detention the naval authorities recanted and admitted that they
were detaining an undisclosed number of criminal suspects involved
in maritime offences. A week later, the navy paraded 22 suspects
and announced that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) had taken over the investigation.

In order to ensure that Nigerian citizens are not detained
without trial by the police and other law enforcement agencies,
section 34 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA)
2015 has mandated all Chief Judges to designate Chief Magistrates
and Judges to visit all detention facilities in Nigeria. During
such visits the judge or magistrate shall order the immediate
release of those who are illegally detained, grant bail or
recommend the trial of indicted suspects. Based on the request of
the human rights community, the Chief Justice of Nigeria has had
cause to direct all chief judges to appoint chief magistrates and
judges to conduct a monthly inspection of all detention facilities
in the country. But in spite of the directive, it is sad to note
that some chief judges have refused to designate judges and
magistrates to visit police stations and other detention centres.
Hence, the incessant arrest and detention of citizens has not
ceased.

However, we are not unaware that the Nigerian navy has alleged
that the detained suspects were arrested for engaging in various
acts of economic and financial crimes. But that is not a legal
justification for detaining them indefinitely without trial.

In fact, the investigation of such grave allegations ought to
have been carried out speedily to facilitate the prosecution of the
suspects by the EFCC. The contemptuous disregard of the court for
the release of some of the detainees is therefore condemnable. We
call on the authorities of the Nigerian navy to either admit the
suspects to administrative bail or arraign them in competent
courts.

Culled from Thisday

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