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By Lawrence Agbo
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has said Nigerian law prohibits the arrest of family members in place of criminal suspects, describing such actions as unconstitutional and unlawful.
Falana made the remarks while reacting to reports surrounding the investigation into the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), during which the father of a suspect, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, was reportedly taken in by police officers.
According to him, under the Constitution, an individual’s liberty can only be restricted where there is reasonable suspicion that the person has committed an offence.
“Under the Constitution, you can only seize the liberty of a Nigerian if he or she is reasonably suspected of committing an offence. Criminality is not transferable.”
He cited Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and Section 36 of the Nigeria Police Act, noting that both laws expressly prohibit the arrest of any person in place of a suspect.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no police officer or any law enforcement official can arrest the family member of a suspect.”
Falana also referenced the 1997 Court of Appeal decision in *African Continental Bank v. Okonkwo*, where the court held that the arrest of a suspect’s mother was unlawful and awarded substantial damages against the police.
He maintained that the reported detention of Adeyemi’s father could not be justified under the Constitution, the ACJA or the Nigeria Police Act.
“The reported arrest of Mr. Adeyemi’s father cannot be justified under the Constitution, under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, and under the Nigerian Police Force Establishment Act.”
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However, Falana said police officers in Abuja later contacted him to clarify that the elderly man was not arrested but merely invited to assist investigators.
“I got a call from the police officers in Abuja this evening, where I was informed that the old man wasn’t really arrested. The police merely invited him to take them to a particular place as part of their investigation, and that he was asked to make a statement.”
He added that the man was not questioned under caution and was allowed to return home after giving his statement.
Despite the explanation, Falana argued that investigators should have taken the man’s statement at his residence instead of taking him to a police station.
“If the police officers involved had wanted the father of Mr. Adeyemi to assist them in their investigation, they should have taken his statement in his house and not in a police station.”
Falana also noted that the principal suspect had already been arrested in October last year, detained for about three weeks and charged in court, although he is yet to be arraigned.
He expressed hope that President Bola Tinubu’s decision to hand the investigation over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) would expose the full extent of the alleged fraud.
“With the decision of the President of the Republic to refer this matter to the ICPC, it is hoped that we shall get to the root of what has been described as a scandal of monumental dimension in the country.”
