Reading through a publication published on www.elombah.com yesterday, which was a report on the investigation on SARS Abattoir Detention Centre, FCT- Abuja, in comparison with the Libyan Migrant/Slave Detention Places published on the 21st day of October, 2019, there was a question that came to my mind as a human rights activist/lawyer, which gave rise to the topic of this paper that Police Detention Centres, Who Are The Inmates, Innocent Suspects Or Convicts?!

In criminal laws and procedures, there are various detention centres which are assumed as lawful custodies apart from rehabilitation centres. These detention centres are either referred to as the nomenclature of ‘cell’, ‘jail’, ‘prison’, etc. ‘Cell’ has been defined by the Webster online dictionary as ‘a room in a prison, jail, etc., where prisoners live or are kept’.

Whichever name or nomenclature, they are all detention centres and the bottom line of this article is ‘who are the inmates expected by law to be kept in such police detention?! The word ‘police’ here includes all government’s agencies empowered to detain. This is to draw the attention of the appropriate authorities to the need for equipped facilities in all the established detention centres across the Federation.

The justification and or legality of detention centres arises from the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)-herein after referred to as the Constitution which is the basis or foundation for the lawfulness of such detention centres, apart from other specific statutory provisions of law such as the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015-herein after referred to as ACJA- (section 8 for instance). This provision of the Constitution is captured in section 35 of the Constitution thus ‘35.

(1) Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure permitted by law—(c) for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court or upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence, or to such extent as may be reasonably necessary to prevent his committing a criminal offence;

(2) Any person who is…….. or detained shall have the right to remain silent or avoid answering any question until after consultation with a legal practitioner or any other person of his own choice.

(3) Any person who is ……. or detained shall be informed in writing within twenty-four hours (and in a language that he understands) of the facts and grounds for his ….. or detention.

(4) Any person who is ….. or detained in accordance with subsection (1) (c) of this section shall be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time, and if he is not tried within a period of— (a) two months from the date of his …. or detention in the case of a person who is in custody or is not entitled to bail; or (b) three months from the date of his …. or detention in the case of a person who has been released on bail; he shall (without prejudice to any further proceedings that may be brought against him) be released either unconditionally or upon such conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears for trial at a later date.

(5) In subsection (4) of this section, the expression ”a reasonable time” means— (a) in the case of ….. or detention in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of forty kilometers, a period of one day; and (b) in any other case, a period of two days or such longer period as in the circumstances may be considered by the court to be reasonable.

(6) Any person who is unlawfullly …… or detained shall be entitled to compensation and public apology from the appropriate authority or person; and in this subsection, ”the appropriate authority or person” means an authority or person specified by law.

(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed— (a) in relation to subsection (4) of this section, as applying in the case of a person …. or detained upon reasonable suspicion of having committed a capital offence;’.

From this provision, in my humble view, it shows that a detention center is a temporary place or room where suspects are kept for either a day or two days as the circumstances laid down by the Constitution may be applicable. Also, such a person is a suspect and not a convict as there is no finding of guilt against him by any court of competent jurisdiction and as such, is presumed innocent under Section 36(5) of the Constitution which provided thus ‘ (5) Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty : Provided that nothing in this section shall invalidate any law by reason only that the law imposes upon any such person the burden of proving particular facts.’.

Furthermore, it is clear that such a suspect is entitled to his fundamental rights (except as restricted by law) regardless of those suspicions against him and is therefore entitled to the following rights, specifically, while in such detention ‘34.—(1) Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly— (a) no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment ; (b) no person shall be held in slavery or servitude ; and (c) no person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.’. Yet, with due respect, a check on some of the detention centres of government shows that some if not all of such detention centres where those suspects (presumed innocent by the Constitution) are kept are worse than the prison or correctional service centers where convicts found guilty are kept. The question now is ‘who is being punished?!’.

The presumed innocent suspects or the convicts?! Therefore, if the whole circumstances and conditions are to be considered, it shows that the in-conducive facilities of the detention centres are even worse than zoos where animals are kept. It is my humble recommendation, with due respect, that human life must be respected by the government as provided by the Constitution else, such detention centres amount to an arbitrary detention contrary to the Constitution and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights ratified by Nigeria. Inmates, including some inmates that I had represented in criminal trials have contracted some communicable diseases while in the detention custody of a government’s agency. Some of those symptoms according to some of those of my clients were: ‘skin rashes; vomiting blood when coughing; urinating blood; not being able to sleep at night due to the effects of the diseases, among others. I got courts’ order for some of them to be treated at the cost of the Federal Government.

All these diseases were according to those victims, contracted while in the detention custody of the government’s agency and not while in the prison custody! So, lawyers representing defendants/accused persons should take the health of their clients with utmost concerns as they undergo their trials/prosecution. This is advantageous for the well-being of those inmates. Furthermore, where the provisions of section 34 of ACJA- has been taken to effect, some of these unhealthy detention centres could be noted in the reports and for appropriate government’s authority to take necessary corrective steps to improve the system.

Furthermore, section 1 of the ACJA has stated the purpose of the Act thus ‘1. (1)The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the system of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria promotes efficient management of criminal justice institutions, speedy dispensation of justice, protection of the society from crime and protection of the rights and interests of the suspect, the defendant, and the victim. (2) The courts, law enforcement agencies and other authorities or persons involved in criminal justice administration shall ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act for the realisation of its purposes.’.

Therefore, in my humble view, it is very important in the interest of justice for the government to take list of all detention centers across the federation and to consider improving the facilities therein. Also, it is my humble recommendation in case of arbitrary detention (detention without following the due process of law) to apply to court immediately bail is not possible within the mandated a day or two days as the circumstances may be, using section 32 of the ACJA thus ‘32.(1) Where a suspect taken into custody in respect of a non-capital offence is not released on bail after 24 hours, a court having jurisdiction with respect to the offence may be notified by application on behalf of the suspect. (2) The court shall order the production of the suspect detained and inquire into the circumstances constituting the grounds of the detention and where it deems fit, admit the suspect detained to bail. (3) An application for bail under this section may be made orally or in writing.’.

Furthermore, it is hoped that these unhealthy conditions can be discovered where the officer in charge of a police station or an official in charge of an agency authorised to make arrest on the last working day of every month, reports to the nearest Magistrate the cases of all suspects arrested without warrant within the limits of their respective stations or agency whether the suspects have been admitted to bail or not.

Also, the Magistrate, the Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee the Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Human Rights Commission, the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria and Non-Governmental Organization and the Nigerian Bar Association also have roles to play on the improvement of this detention centres especially too, using the opportunity of the ‘Report’ to be submitted by the police officer in charge of the police station.

I therefore recommend some improvements in these detention centers as follows as: Not to be a death dungeon with infectious deceases; to be in poor management of inmates; not to have unrecorded and unreported loss of inmates’ lives; to avoid extortion of inmates and inmates’ visitors; to avoid arbitrary detention; to avoid nutritional diets/feedings to avoid starvation, among others.

Finally, it is my humble view, with due respect that police’s detention centres are for suspects in whose favour the law presumes innocence until found guilty by a competent court of law and not convicts, so, they must be well taken care of in welfare and adequate care, in the interest of justice. It is a right and not a privilege! Also, the Magistrate, the Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Human Rights Commission, the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria and Non-Governmental Organization and the Nigerian Bar Association also have roles to play on the improvement of this detention centres especially too, using the opportunity of the ‘Report’ to be submitted by the police officer in charge of the police station.