Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has described as illegal the popular tradition by the Nigeria Police whereby suspected armed robbers, kidnappers and other alleged criminals are paraded in public or before the press prior to charging them to court.

Falana argued that such public parade of suspected criminals was not only prejudicial but also offensive to the constitutional provision, which stated that a suspect was to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise before a competent court of law.

He said journalists who honour invitation by the police to cover a public parade of suspected criminal were just as complicit as the police in perpetrating what he described as “overzealous, irresponsible and illegal parade of suspects.”

Falana said he had noted that most of the suspects were usually tortured or cajoled by the police to make incriminating confessions prior to being paraded before the press.

He said he had also noted that after such public parades, the cases of the suspected criminals were often never heard again, because the police allegedly kill them in detention extra judicially.

The human rights lawyer, who spoke to journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, therefore urged the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, to “issue a stern directive to all law enforcement agencies to desist from illegal parade and extrajudicial killing of criminal suspects without trial.”

Falana said, “In spite of the presumption of innocence, which inures in favour of criminal suspects by virtue of Section 36 of the Constitution and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Act, the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria have continued to expose accused persons to media trial before arraigning them in courts.

“By subjecting suspects to media trial before arraignment in a criminal court, their fundamental rights to fair hearing and the dignity of their persons are infringed upon.”

Falana said he had observed that only the poor people were paraded by the police, while members of the elite accused of criminal offences were never paraded. According to him, this disparity was a confirmation that public parade of suspects was an inhuman act meant to oppress the poor, who did not have the wherewithal to challenge the police in court.

He said, “However, this barbaric treatment of criminal suspects is limited to the flotsam and the jetsam of our society. In other words, ex-governors, ministers, permanent secretaries and other members of the elite, who are arrested and briefly detained by the police and anti-graft agencies, are not exposed to media parade or any form of humiliation. On few occasions that important personalities have been exposed to public odium by law enforcement officials, the neo-colonial state has paid for it.”

Falana said he recalled that late Fela Anikulapo had a very good case when he sued the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for N100m in 1997 for parading him in public on the allegation that he was found in possession of narcotic substances.

The senior lawyer said inasmuch as crime must not be encouraged, the police must be wary of violating human rights while fighting crime.

He said contrary to the belief that parading suspected criminals in public would serve as deterrent to other intending criminals, it would in fact encourage and embolden members of the public to engage in jungle justice

He cited the case of the four students of the University of Port Harcourt, who were burnt to death two years ago by a mob in Rivers State, on an unsubstantiated allegation that they stole a laptop and handset.

He said, “Encouraged by the illegal parade and extrajudicial killing of ‘criminal suspects’ by law enforcement officials and the incessant killing of innocent people through ‘accidental discharge’ of firearms, many members of the public have resorted to the illegal arrest, parade and and brutal killing of criminal suspects through jungle justice.

“Apart from exposing the country to unwarranted ridicule before the international community, the Federal Government has continued to waste scarce resources on payment of judgment debts for the criminal actions of some lawless law enforcement officials.”

Falana said that from the newspapers reports that he followed last year, there were no fewer than 572 of such public parades or media trial by the police. He therefore demanded that the police should furnish him with information on the courts where those 572 suspects were being tried.