Daily Law Tips (Tip 698) by Onyekachi Umah, Esq., LL.M, ACIArb(UK)
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Introduction:
Nigeria Police Force is established to protect lives, properties and human rights of all persons in Nigeria. Experience has shown that in performance of duties, the Nigeria Police Force violates human rights of persons in Nigeria. This is not due to lack of laws and penalties rather due to failure of Nigeria’s criminal justice system. In providing solutions, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and its equivalents in states in Nigeria, introduced a system where Magistrates supervise police stations while the heads of Police Stations send monthly reports to Magistrates. This work focuses on the contents of monthly reports that police stations must send to their supervising magistrates every month across Nigeria.
Duty of Police to Send Monthly Report:
One of the common ills in police station is illegal arrest/detention. Hence the need for a third party (Magistrates) to visit and supervise police stations. Also, the need for a robust comprehensive criminal record, birthed the mandatory monthly reporting system in police stations.
Now there is a statutory duty on any officer in charge of a police station or any law enforcement agency, to prepare and send a monthly report, on the last working day of every month, to the nearest Magistrate, on the cases of all suspects arrested without warrant, whether the suspects have been admitted to bail or not.
With this duty and the visitation of the nearest Magistrate to the police stations/law enforcement agencies for a monthly inspection, it is expected that there will be decrease in illegal arrest/detention.
Mandatory Monthly Reports:
Monthly report of the head of a police station/office of a law enforcement agency must contain the particulars of the suspects arrested without warrant, whether the suspects have been admitted to bail or not. Now, the particulars of an arrested suspect must include; full name, occupation and residential address of the person; the alleged offence with date and circumstance of the persons arrest. It will also include personal information like height; photograph; full fingerprint impressions; or any other means of identification. Click to read more on the information required from an arrested person in Nigeria.
Conclusion and Recommendation:
Laws are made to guide man but laws have no hands of their own but the hands of man, so as not to be mere heaps of rubbish. Good laws with no will-powers and strong institution is no law. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act and laws in Nigeria have done well but same cannot be said of the stakeholders in the criminal justice system, if Magistrates fail to supervise police stations and police officers fail to send monthly reports to Magistrates. It is a relay race and all participants must be accountable. Nigeria needs more than laws, we need strong institutions and not strong men and cabals. Click to read related works on Administration for Criminal Justice Act.
My authorities, are:
1. Sections 1, 2, 3, 16, 318 and 319 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
3. Sections 15, 33, 34, 494 and 495 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and its equivalent in states across Nigeria.
4. Onyekachi Umah, “Minimum Information That Must Be In Database Of All Arrested Persons At Federal And State Levels In Nigeria” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 16 September 2019) <https://learnnigerianlaws.com/minimum-information-that-must-be-in-database-of-all-arrested-persons-at-federal-and-state-levels-in-nigeria-daily-law-tips-tip-415-by-onyekachi-umah-esq-llm-aciarb-uk > accessed 17 November 2020.
5. Onyekachi Umah, “Head of a Police Station Must Make Monthly Report of Arrests to a Magistrate” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 24 August 2020) <https://learnnigerianlaws.com/head-of-police-station-must-make-monthly-report-of-arrests/ > accessed 17 November 2020.
6. Onyekachi Umah, “Police Stations Now Have Supervising Magistrates” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 9 October 2020) <https://learnnigerianlaws.com/police-stations-now-have-supervising-magistrates/ > accessed 17 November 2020.
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