It is completely another issue of fact whether Nigeria, under the current administration can be said to have succeeded thus far in her fight against corruption.

Although, this is not the crux of this short article; it will be very helpful to refresh our minds about the standard of proof where commission of crime is in alleged (see section 135 of the Evidence Act, 2011). Proving the commission of a crime beyond reasonable doubt, to my mind, is usually a heavy burden to discharge which requires evidence as may be led by credible witnesses especially where confessional statement of the accused is infeasible.

Consequently, this brings to fore two major points;

The crucial roles honest Nigerians play in the prosecution of crime.
The need to recognize, encourage and protect honest Nigerians who expose criminals.
As it was once noted by Stephen M. Kohn, the director of the National Whistleblower Center NWC, that protection against retaliation, amongst others (confidentiality and anonymous reporting) is key to successful whistleblower programs. (https://www.whistleblowers.org/news/anonymous-reporting-and-whistleblower-rewards-important-in-fighting-international-money-laundering-and-foreign-bribery/)

Fortunately, it appears that the ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT, 2015 provides for a seemingly similar protection of witnesses and expenses of witnesses;

(232)
A trial for the offences referred to in subsection (4) of this section may not, where the court so determines, be held in an open court.

(2) The names, addresses, telephone numbers and identity of the victims of such offences or witnesses shall not be disclosed in any record or report of the proceedings and it shall be sufficient to designate the names of the victims or witnesses with a combination of alphabets.

(3) Where in any proceeding the court deems it necessary to protect the identity of the victim or a witness, the court may take any or all of the following measures:

(a) receive evidence by video link; (this has been tested by the FHC Abuja Division –see https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/nyako-court-allows-efccs-application-to-take-evidence-of-witness-via-video-link/amp/)

(b) permit the witness to be screened or masked;

(c) receive written deposition of expert evidence; and

(d) any other measure that the court considers appropriate in the circumstance.

S. 251

Where a person attends court as a state witness, the witness shall be entitled to payment of such reasonable expenses as may be prescribed.

Quite recently, it was reported that whistleblowers in Nigeria are reluctant to even come forward, as published by the Nigerialawyer on the 21st day of November, 2019 via (https://thenigerialawyer.com/whistle-blowers-now-reluctant-to-come-forward-fg/). In that report Permanent Secretary, Special Duties in the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mr. Mohammed Dikwa was said to have mentioned that there has been a reduction in reported cases of whistle blowing due to some challenges which include lack of legislation hindering the success of the policy and that some people that wanted to blow whistle were no longer comfortable with the new arrangement put in place which arrangement entails filling of forms as part of process to document their claims. He said

“The reported cases of whistle blowing or the tips used to come frequently on a daily basis when we just introduced it in November, 2016.

“When we started, we received 2,000 reported cases monthly; but it has gone down drastically. “

The need to recognize and reward honest Nigerians to fight crime has been notably pronounced by Per GALUMJE J.S.C recently in the case of Adulrahman v State (2019) NWLR PT 1664, pg 162, at page 177, paras C-D

“Before I end this short contribution, I must commend, the car paint sprayer who promptly reported the presence of the stolen car in his workshop. He is a true reflection of an honest Nigerian who deserves to be encouraged by the Law enforcement agencies. He definitely deserves an award in order to encourage others to expose criminals. It is when such people are recognized and rewarded that the fight against crime will find a new and extra momentum”

The defendant had set up the defense of Alibi in an allegation of armed robbery contrary to and punishable under section 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap R1 vol. 14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The Court noted at page 175, paras C-D that

“PW1, the victim of the robbery identified the appellant as the person who robbed him of his taxi, PW2 testified that it was the appellant who took the taxi to him and asked him to paint with a different colour…”

In the above case, the said car painter played a crucial role even as a witness in guiding the prosecution and the court to demolish the alibi set up by the defense.

Funnily, National honours has not even been hosted in the past five years (see- https://www.barristerng.com/buhari-fails-to-host-national-honours-in-five-years/).

In conclusion, it is the opinion of the writer that Nigeria can further register her commitment to vigorously fight corruption by recognizing and rewarding people who expose criminals in the society.

Written by; Oluwatosin Damilola MESE, Esq