Tina Amanda
A legal practitioner, Nathaniel Akporuvweku, has called on Magistrates in Rivers state to conduct regular inspection of Police detention cells, as contained in section 34, Sub-2 of the Rivers State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2015.
Akporuvweku who is also a Civil Right Activist, stated this while speaking to our correspondent, Tina Amanda, in Port Harcourt.
He said the essence of the law mandating Magistrates to inspect Police cells is to avoid people being held unlawfully beyond the constitutionally required time.
He noted that it is an abuse of office and intimidation of the general public for people to be held unlawfully in Police detention.
“Under the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, a Magistrate has the right to visit the police detention cells where people are detained, find out people who have been kept there unlawfully for more than 24 hours and inquire why the person is there, but till date, none of these laws are being implemented.
“If they diligently do this, you will see that when the police arrest a suspect, they will not have any ground to hold that person beyond the constitutionally required time of 24 hours.
“It is a simple case, once you think you have an established case, the law says proceed to court, let the court do the needful. Not a police officer holding people for three (3) months, six (6) months in a facility that is not made to hold people for more than 24 hours that is in practice.
“If the judiciary who have been empowered, sit up to their responsibilities, we would not have any problem with the police. If the judiciary carry out their functions in which they have been empowered to, so many abuses we see from the police will be a thing of the past, they will know that in doing contrary, they will either be in contempt of the authority who asked them to do the needful or otherwise, that is the law”
He further stressed that it is a failure on the part of the judiciary, while urging Magistrates to use their discretionary powers to judge matters, and stop focusing on the black and white of the law, as many will be denied justice.
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“Before you file a charge, there is reasonable proof of evidence that you will put before the court. Most of these charges are turn up charges that are clearly seen. At their position as Magistrates, they have the right to release every suspect either conditionally or unconditionally, but this they don’t do, they just follow the precedent. It’s a felony and in felony, we don’t look at the book, the next thing is I don’t have jurisdiction, they sign the papers and the suspects is taking away by the police.
“These are some of the problems we have in the judiciary system, if the Magistrates focus on the black and white of the law, so many injustices will be perpetuated. They should not see the law as a distant thing, rather they should use their discretion in charges brought before them”.
He further buttressed that the Magistrates are giving police the leverage to torture people unlawfully.
“When you hold somebody in detention beyond the required time, there is every possibility that the person will be subjected to torture and made to accept what he or she did not do, this is exactly what happened in late Chima Ikwunado case.
“We are very offended that the Ikokwu four were kept in their mutilated form and yet they were remanded in prison custody probably without any order for their treatment on the turn-up charge that was before the Magistrate.
“The Magistrate would have used it’s discretion to order the police to take the boys for treatment, these are the ways Magistrate have encouraged the police to carry out their nefarious activities on a daily basis”
