Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has advocated that individual police officers who violate the human rights of Nigerians should be made to pay and not the Nigerian Police as an institution.
According to Falana, human rights violations continue to spiral because victims of past violations often get judgement against the Nigerian police institution and not the police officers themselves.
Falana expressed himself during a virtual symposium regarding Human Rights violations in Nigeria as well as the way forward, organised by Legal Touch initiative.
See Also:Stupid Answer! Presidency slams Fani-Kayode for insulting Journalist
During the symposium, Falana also wondered out loud why police officers still arrested other people in place of criminal suspects even though the practice has been prohibited by law.
“Arresting people in lieu of criminal suspects has been prohibited but still goes on everyday and the other painful one, and we must make this clear to the public; why is the Nigeria Police Force paying damages for the responsibilities and negligence of its officers? He asked.
“I have been pleading with the human rights community; if your client is detained, don’t sue the police alone, sue the police officer involved and ask for specific damages against him.
“If by the time the judgment is delivered, he has retired, let them take part of his pension; that will serve as a lesson for people. But right now, they detain illegally, some get killed, the officers involved get promoted, retire with their benefits. For me, that should not be allowed.”
The prominent human rights lawyer also flayed the practice of parading suspects by security agencies, stating that the act is not sanctioned by law.
“The parade of suspects, I have argued repeatedly, is a class matter. You only parade the poor; nobody will parade a permanent secretary or minister who has stolen N10bn. But those who have robbed people of a few thousand naira are paraded by the police.
“The parade of suspect is illegal; it is against the right to dignity of persons because every suspect is still presumed innocent.”
Leave a Reply