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Romanus Okoye
A group, Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), has called on judges and magistrates to visit detention facilities in the country as stipulated by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA) 2015 and Nigeria Police Act,(NPA) 2020 so that Nigerians will no longer be subjected to illegal arrest and detention by the police and other security agencies.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and interim chairman of the group, Mr. Femi Falana, said: “To achieve the objective of the law, we appeal to the respective chief judges to supervise the visiting judges and chief magistrates in the discharge of their statutory duties. However, where there is no chief magistrate within the police division, the chief judge should designate a magistrate for the purpose in accordance with section 70 (1) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.”
Falana explained that Section 34 of the ACJA requires chief judges of the Federal High Court, Federal Capital Territory High Court and state high courts to designate judges and chief magistrates to conduct monthly visitation and inspection of all police stations and other detention facilities. “In spite of the directive of the National Judicial Council (NJC), the provision of the law was not complied with by many Judicial Authorities. “Hence, the incessant arrest, detention and torture of poor citizens by the police and other security agencies have since become the order of the day,” Falana said
He, however, noted that the newly enacted Nigeria Police Act, 2020 has re-imposed a duty on all chief magistrates and judges. “Specifically, section 70 of the Act provides as follows: “70 (1) The Chief Magistrate, or where there is no chief magistrate within the police division, any magistrate designated by the chief judge for that purpose, shall at least every month, conduct an inspection of police stations or other places of detention within his territorial jurisdiction other than the prison.”
