1. RIGHTS OF AN ARRESTEE DURING POLICE ARREST
It is apposite to acknowledge from the outset that one of the reasons the police stations and
prisons are overcrowded today is as a result of unlawful arrests which has escalated to is
one of the major problems of our criminal process. Arrests are sometimes made on
allegation that are purely civil in nature or on a frivolous ground like landlord/tenant dispute
and debts arising from commercial transactions.
Deeper in the abyss of impunity that characterise most police arrests is the plethora of
instances where the police arrested relations, friends or associates of a crime suspect to
compel the suspect to give himself up even though that person is not linked in any way to
the crime the suspect is being accused of.
Consequent upon the above, it is now germane to infer that most of these citizens arrested
are not even aware of their rights. By virtue of Section 10(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act
(hereinafter referred to as “the CPA”), the police could arrest without a warrant, any person
who has no ostensible means of sustenance and who cannot give a satisfactory account of
himself. This particular provision has been greatly abused by the police as a ground to arrest
people indiscriminately. This provision has however been deleted from the Administration
of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as “ACJA”).
Further to the arrest of one in respect of a crime alleged to have been committed by
another, Section 7 of the ACJA specifically prohibits arrest in lieu. Apart from the police,
other agencies vested with power of arrest like the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (hereinafter referred to as “the EFCC”), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(hereinafter referred to as “NDLEA”), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control (hereinafter referred to as “NAFDAC”), etc have consistently abused this power to
arrest and detain relatives or close associates of criminal suspect in lieu of the suspects
where they had challenges in apprehending the suspects.
It must be noted that the import of Section 7 of the ACJA is to curtail such callous atrocities
and abuses. Note that such arrest is patently illegal and unconstitutionally. Your first
reaction is to refuse to make any statement or corporate with the efforts to take a
statement from you in the event of any unlawful arrest.
INFORMATION ON THE GROUNDS OF ARREST
Sections 5 of the CPA and 38 of the CPC provide that a police officer or a person making an
arrest is to inform the arrested person of the reason for the arrest, except where he is being
arrested in the course of the commission of the offence or is pursued immediately after the
commission of the offence or escaped from lawful custody. It has been argued that this
provision falls short of the contemporary requirements. The ACJA retains this provision in
section 6(1).
However, the ACJA went further in Section 6(2) to mandate the police officer or any other
person to inform the suspect of his right to: (a) remain silent or avoid answering any
question until after consultation with a legal practitioner or any other person of his own
choice; (b) consult a legal practitioner of his choice before making, endorsing or writing any

2. statement or answering any question put to him after arrest; (c) free legal representation by
the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria where applicable.
It need not be adumbrated further that this provision re-affirms Section 35(2) and (3) of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) (hereinafter referred to
as “the 1999 Constitution”), which provides that any person who is arrested or detained
shall have the right to remain silent or answering any question until after consultation with
a legal practitioner or any other person of his choice and must be informed the reason for
the arrest. It is necessary to state here that the proviso in Section 6 (2) of the ACJA is quite
laudable since the suspect will have the benefit of not only being informed of the offence he
has committed but also an additional advantage of counsel assisting in securing his
immediate release on administrative bail and ensuring that trial is expeditious. This would in
turn prevent prolonged detention of suspects and hopefully bring about decongestion of
the prisons.
TREATMENT OF AN ARRESTED PERSON
The ACJA reiterated the constitutional human right of right of dignity of an arrested person.
Section 8(1) of the ACJA provides that: a suspect shall- (a) be accorded humane treatment,
having regard to his right to the dignity of his person. (b) Not be subjected to any form of
torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Section 8 (2) deals with the longstanding problem whereby people employ the machinery of
criminal justice wrongly for civil matters. It is not uncommon for people to maliciously
instigate the arrest and detention of others for a breach of contract, failure to pay debt
owed or for other civil wrongs. This provision that “a suspect shall not be arrested merely on
a civil wrong or breach of contract” is a laudable one. It is believed that it would check
arbitrary arrest of persons and torture by law enforcement and security agencies.
ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT
Section 15(4) of the ACJA provides that where a person arrested with or without a warrant
of arrest volunteers to make a confessional statement, the police officer shall record the
statement in writing or may record the making of the confessional statement electronically
on a retrievable video compact disc or such other audio visual means.
Subsection 15(5) provides that notwithstanding the provision of subsection (4), an oral
confession of arrested suspect shall be admissible in evidence. This provision of the ACJ Act
conforms to the position of the law as contained in the Evidence Act.
FACTS ABOUT BAIL
Bail is the release of an accused person who has been in a lawful custody. The 1999
constitution stipulates that any person who is detained by the police for the purposes of
bringing him before a court in execution of a court order or upon reasonable suspicion of his
having committed a criminal offence other than an offence punishable with death, or to
prevent him from committing a criminal offence, shall be brought before such court of law
within:

3. 1. A period of one day where the court having jurisdiction over his case is within forty two
kilometres; and
2. A period of two days where the court is within a distance beyond forty kilometres.
If he is not brought to a court of competent jurisdiction within this period, section 35 (4) of
the constitution provides that he should be released either unconditionally or upon such
conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears for trial at a later date.
However, it is necessary to state that these conditions do not apply strictly to an accused
person who is suspected to have committed an offence punishable with death. This
constitutional provision was also provided in sections 17, 18 and 19 of the CPA which
provides as follows: When any person has been taken into custody without a warrant for an
offence other than an offence punishable by death any officer in charge of the police
station, may, in any case, and shall, if it will not be practicable to bring such person before a
magistrate or justice of peace having jurisdiction with respect to the offence charged within
twenty four hours after he was so taken into custody, inquire into the case and unless the
offence appears to such officer to be of serious nature may discharge the person upon his
entering of recognizance with or without sureties for a reasonable amount to appear before
a court at the time and place named in the recognizance.
A Recognizance is a promise or undertaking made by an accused person to appear in the
court of law or police station or any other place as he may be required by his undertaking.
The law stipulates that on entering into such recognizance, even without a surety, the
accused person is to be granted bail. It is not mandatory under the law that he should
produce a surety once his identity, address of place of abode and work are disclosed and
they are confirmed to be true. It must be noted that bail is not to be at any cost. It is to be
granted FREE of charge. It is pertinent to note that the clause which says “upon entering
into recognizance for a reasonable amount” does not contemplate that any deposit of
money should be made to the police for bail. The amount so entered in the recognizance is
a guarantee recoverable by the court from the accused or his surety, on default by the
accused person.
RESIDUAL STATUS OF AN ARRESTED PERSON
The residual status of every arrested person is the presumption of innocence. It is therefore
very important to note that the import of Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution is that as at
the time of arrest, an individual who is arrested by the police is only a suspect who is
constitutionally presumed innocent until the contrary is proven.
Sequel to the above, we wish to advise arrested person(s) not to panic, shiver or beg law
enforcement agents with money and other valuables to gain freedom in the event of an
arrest. You are entitled to bail where the offence so committed is not punishable with
death.
Our advice is that once a policeman or any other law enforcement agent harasses you or
coerces anyone in your presence, you have the following options:
1 Take down his or her name. The names are tagged on their uniforms,

4. 2. Contact a lawyer or write a petition yourself against him,
3 Seek legal redress in court of law to enforce your fundamental rights,
4 Capture the scene with a video recorder if you can and attach the video footage to the
petition,
5 Social media networks have become the commonest way of bringing dissident
officers to boo. So, take advantage of it and upload the video footage and watch it
go viral.
By taking these steps, you will have made a great expression that will incriminate such
officers and they will be made to face the wrath of the law.
Ugochukwu Ugwu, Esq. (LL.B, B.L, LL.M)
Principal Counsel, Ugochukwu Ugwu Law Point