ONE of the pillars of modern democracy is the right of a suspect or accused person to the dignity of the human person in addition to freedom from being subjected to torture, cruel inhuman and degrading treatment.
This constitutionally guaranteed right which remains fundamental and inviolable in any society that subscribes to democratic norms and values contributes immensely to the administration of justice in particular and the expansion of the frontiers of modern democracy.
Indeed, Section 34 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) in very clear terms provides that “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and accordingly, (b) no person shall be subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment”.
Similarly, section 8 of the Administration of criminal justice Act (ACJA ) 2015 prohibits subjecting suspects to torture, degrading and inhuman treatment.
Even at international level, a lot of legal instruments such as the African charter on human and peoples’ rights, frown at any form of degrading and inhuman treatment of any human being.
While it is not doubt that Nigeria, like other democratic nations, cherishes the sanctity of the fundamental rights of citizen as encapsulated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and statutory provisions, a cursory look at the modalities by some law enforcement agents in handling suspects and accused persons particularly under their custody leaves much to be desired.
It is no news today that many persons in police custody or other sister agencies are more often than not, brazenly denied their fundamental rights to the above mentioned time honored freedom whether as suspects or accused persons who have already been charged to court but are remanded in the custody of the security outfit.
Many of the victims are not only subjected to torture, degrading and inhuman treatment, they are aslo denied essential services such as prompt and adequate health care services. Some even die in custody under mysterious circumstances while health conditions of others either deliberately or negligently allowed to deteriorate due to the cruel attitudes of some unscrupulous security operatives.
Only recently a woman accused of involvement in transactions on banned substances died in court in Benin City, Edo State apparently as a result of neglect, failure or refusal of the prosecutors, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to avail her access to prompt medical treatment to enable her face her trial at the court.
According to sources, the accused person had for long become weak, sick and deserved urgent medical attention but this could not be because she was denied bail in addition to not taken to hospital only for the remains to be deposited in the morgue after dying right inside the court.
This is not the first time that accused persons or suspects suffer needless and irreversible loss as a result of cruel and inhuman treatment by law enforcement agents in Nigeria.For instance erudite professor and former governor of the defunct Bendel State, Professor Ambrose FolorunshoAlli lost his sight in detention by the MuhammaduBuhari military regime during the second Republic.
Besides, in the days of reign of terror by the infamous, inglorious and murderous Special Armed Robbery Squad (SARS), many citizens died in the dungeon of the now proscribed squad while others till today are unaccounted for.
Certainly, this act of impunity, rascality , and lawlessness by some security operatives constitutes a brazen violation of the citizens’fundamental rights and should not be allowed to continue unabated especially in a nation that subscribes to democratic norms and values.
The NDLEA ‘s recent re- enactment of this ignoble culture of impunity as depicted in the accused person who was denied bail for a bailable offence only to later die in court represents not only a violation of the victim’s fundamental rights but an extreme and unmitigated barbarism and disservice to the nation.
It is against this background that we align ourselves with other well -meaning citizens calling for the probe of the NDLEA officials and the circumstances that led to the accused person dying in court, just as we enjoin the relevant authorities to beam their searchlight on numerous cases of inhuman and degrading treatments to suspects especially in police custody.
Probing and penalizing culprits no doubt will serve as a deterrent to others thereby reducing to the barest minimal cases of mishandling suspects or accused persons by reckless security operatives.
It is our firm view and indeed the unflinching position of the laws that a suspect or accused person should be availed of the constitutional and statutory safeguards under our laws and under no circumstance, should any overzealous and unscrupulous agents be allowed to slaughter justice, equity and fairplay on the altar of extreme barbarism, impunity, rascality, inhuman and degrading treatment of citizens.
Nigeria as a nation that lays claims to democratic tenets and global best practices cannot afford to shield or encourage unmitigated violation of the rights of suspects or accused persons by security agents.
Now is the time to erase this dent on our system and journey on the democracy highway.
