This paper is an attempt at considering whether the non-fulfillment of bail conditions by a suspect is enough an excuse for the law enforcement agency to detain the suspect in its custody without taking him to court within a reasonable time allowed by law? In Nigeria, every person has been granted his right to personal liberty as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)-herein after referred to as the Constitution- as conferred by Section 35(1)(c) of the Constitution thus ‘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;’. This provision is to the effect that a lawful arrest by a law enforcement agency of the government upon reasonable suspicion of an arrested person to have committed a criminal offence or to such extent as may be reasonably necessary to prevent his committing a criminal offence is constitutional. However, section 35(4) and (5) of the Constitution provides that upon the arrest being made, the suspect shall be brought to a court of law within a reasonable time, thus ‘(4) Any person who is arrested or detained in accordance with subsection (1)(c) of this section shall be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time… (5) In subsection (4) of this section, the expression ‘a reasonable time’ means- (a) in the case of an arrest 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 the circumstances may be considered by the court to be reasonable’. From the above provisions of the Constitution, it is the submission of the writer of this paper that where a suspect is unable to fulfill the conditions of his bail in the law enforcement agency’s custody within a reasonable time, the law enforcement agency is mandated to take such suspect before a court of law within such reasonable time, where such alleged offence involves a non-capital offence and where it is such an offence that a magistrate does not have the jurisdiction to try. Failure of the law enforcement agency to take the suspect before a court of law within a reasonable time but rather, continues to detain him (whether male or female or child or adult), amounts to an infringement and or violation of the suspect’s fundamental right to personal liberty as conferred on him by section 35(1)(c), (4) and (5) of the Constitution and the suspect shall then be entitled to compensation and public apology from such agency by enforcing his right in court of law of competent jurisdiction by virtue of section 35(6) of the Constitution. Furthermore, it is the humble submission of the writer of this paper that it is only a court of law that can order the detention of a suspect or an accused person or a defendant in a lawful custody pending his fulfillment of his conditions of his bail pending the conclusion of the prosecuting agency’s investigation or pending the commencement of his trial. It is further submitted that that power is a judicial discretion and not an executive function. Therefore, law enforcement agencies are advised to review the manner of their operations which have continued to or likely to amount to contravention of the fundamental rights of a Nigerian citizen or any suspect, without any legal basis. Furthermore, section 8(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015-herein after referred to as the ACJA-, applicable to all law enforcement agencies enforcing Federal criminal laws and Federal Capital Territory- Abuja’s criminal laws, provides that ‘A suspect shall be brought before the court prescribed by this Act or any other written law or otherwise released conditionally or unconditionally’. Further see sections 31, 32, 33 and 158 of the ACJA. Also, where the offence is such that a magistrate has no jurisdiction to try, section 293(1) of the ACJA mandates the law enforcement agency to within a reasonable time of the arrest of the suspect, bring the suspect before a Magistrate Court for remand. Further see: the entire sections under Part 30 of the ACJA which provides on ;’Detention time limit’. Also see the case of Edu v Commissioner of Police (1982) 3 NCLR 219. Much more further on this subject matter, it is the submission of the writer of this paper that even where the offence the suspect is to be charged relates to offences that a Magistrate Court has jurisdiction to try, the law enforcement agency can still bring the suspect before such Magistrate Court for the issuance of an order to remand the suspect in their custody as the Magistrate Court would determine as to the time of detention, pursuant to section 299 of the ACJA, which provides that ‘’A suspect committed to prison under this Act shall be remanded in prison or other place of safe custody’. The writer of this paper has observed and has taken cognizance of the continuous use of the words ‘suspect’ rather than the words ‘accused or defendant’ from the above sections of the ACJA  cited, as a result of which the writer of this paper submits that ‘an application for remand order’ pursuant to Part 30 of the ACJA, does not ipso facto mean that the trial of the suspect has commenced, because, had the intention of the law makers been to assume or presume the commencement of his trial, the word ‘suspect’ would have been replaced with ‘defendant’ or ‘accused person’ whichever is appropriate in the circumstance. Finally, the writer of this paper therefore advises the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria, having the power to arrest and detain, as conferred by law, to always ensure that arrest and detention are carried out according to law. And where a suspect cannot fulfill his conditions of bail within a reasonable time (as the reasonability of time is binding on the law enforcement agency and not a suspect), such suspect should be taken before a Magistrate Court whether having jurisdiction to try the offence or not, for a remand order or an order allowing the law enforcement agency to detain the suspect for a specific time as the Court may decide, as the suspect’s trial has not commenced, and the law has conferred the Magistrate Court to hear such application for remand order. Also, the various Heads of the various law enforcement agencies supervising the operations of each agency(ies) and the Attorney-General of the Federation and of the State, are most respectfully advised to always ensure that arrest and detention of suspects are carried out according to the principle of Rule of Law by all law enforcement agencies concerned, else, the right of the suspect would have been violated or likely to be violated. e-mail: hameed_ajibola@yahoo.com  ]]>

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