Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, is a musician who has been charged with a crime in connection with the death of Nigerian artist Mohbad. The police and Lagos State Police Command have been ordered to either charge him or release him unconditionally.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a civil society organisation, issued the demand in a statement on Sunday.
Accusing the police of violating the constitutional rights of inmates who were taken into custody without cause or trial, the organisation smeared the police with accusations.
In a statement made available to OBASANJONEWS24, HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated that law enforcement agencies must always base their decisions on the positions of Nigerian laws and facts rather than working with unverified rumours.
The statement read, “HURIWA denounces the security agencies that pick up Nigerians and throw them into their detention facilities indefinitely with no regard to the clear pronouncements of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 as amended,” including the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the most infamous of these unprofessional security bodies, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
HURIWA claimed that the DSS’s detention of prominent citizens, like former EFCC Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa and former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, who was then transferred to the EFCC and detained without charge, violated the constitution’s guarantees of personal liberty.
The RGHTS organisation reported that thousands of Nigerian detainees are being held in police detention centres throughout the nation for extended periods of time without facing formal charges related to their offences.
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The Lagos State Ministry of Justice’s relevant prosecutorial authority and the police authority were urged by HURIWA, which expressed its deep concern over Naira Marley’s unjust treatment at the hands of the Lagos State Police Command, to either charge the musician in court or release him right away rather than detain him arbitrarily and indefinitely in flagrant violation of constitutional norms and provisions.
HURIWA pointed out that it is explicitly stated in the 1999 Nigerian constitution that everyone who is arrested or detained must appear in court within a “reasonable time.”
The reasonable time is defined by the constitution as two days in all other situations and as twenty-four hours when a court with appropriate jurisdiction is located within forty miles of the police station.
“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, and if he is not tried within a period of – (a) two months from the date of his arrest or detention in the case of a person who is in custody or is not entitled to bail; or (b) three months from the date of his arrest or detention in the case of a person who has been released on bail, he shall be released either unconditionally or upon such conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears for trial at a later date.” This is stated in Section 35(4) of the 1999 Constitution.
In subsection (4) of this section, the expression “a reasonable time” means: (a) a period of one day in the case of an arrest or detention in any location where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of forty kilometres; and (b) a period of two days in any other case, or such longer period as the court may consider reasonable in the circumstances.” This is the definition given in subsection 5.
This suggests that it is unconstitutional to hold detained suspects in custody for longer than 48 hours without filing charges with a court.
“Where it is impracticable to charge to court within 24 hours, a suspect arrested without a court warrant, other than a capital offence, should be granted bail,” states Section 61 (1) of the Nigeria Police Act 2020, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
As a result, HURIWA supported Miss Shubomi, Naira Marley’s sister, who had voiced her displeasure over her brother’s arrest and called it a violation of her human rights.
HURIWA noted that earlier this month, a Magistrate Court in the Yaba neighbourhood of Lagos State issued an order remanding Sam Larry and Naira Marley in detention while they conducted an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death.
HURIWA denounced what it refers to as an increasing trend since President Bola Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, for security agencies to act as though the nation is under a military dictatorship by forcibly detaining and arresting Nigerians without cause and locking them up in abandoned detention facilities. The rights group said that this is a flagrant violation of the Constitution, which is the cornerstone of democracy and constitutional freedoms.
HURIWA further urged the security services to uphold Nigerians’ constitutional rights, given that the nation is governed by a civilian administration chosen by the people of Nigeria.
