The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is
created and regulated by law. The powers, functions and procedures of the NPF
are founded on Nigeria's 1999 Constitution, the Police Act and other regional
and international legislations and norms.
POLICE POWERS AND DUTIES
The law confers the following powers
and duties on the police:
1. Power to arrest any person
suspected of having committed an offence. The offence must be known to the law.
2. The police may arrest a person
for an offence without a warrant if the police officer sees the person
committing the offence.
3. The police officer or officers
carrying out the arrest must inform the person being arrested the reason or the
offence for which he or she is being arrested and/or detained.
4. Power to investigate a crime
without interference.
5. Power to grant bail to a person
suspected to have committed an offence. Except in capital offences (that is
offences carrying death penalty), such as murder and armed robbery, the police
have powers, and are required by law, to grant bail to a suspect or charge
him/her to court within 24 hours or 48 hours. The police have the
responsibility to grant bail on simple offences. SUCH BAIL IS FREE!
6. The police shall bring a suspect
to court within one day (24 hours) of arrest where there is a court within 40 kilometers
from the place of arrest/detention. But where the distance is more than 40
kilometers, the person shall be brought before the court within two days (48
hours).
7. However, the police may refuse
bail, if the suspect has no fixed address or is accused of or charged with a
serious crime such as murder or armed robbery. In such case, the person must be
promptly charged to court.
8. Police have no legal basis to
refuse a woman to stand surety for a suspect. All persons are equal before the
law.
9. Power to conduct a bodily search
on any person suspected to have committed an offence.
10. The police can on reasonable
suspicion conduct a bodily search on a person without a warrant, provided that
the police officer carrying out the search must be of the same sex with the
person being searched.
11. Power to search premises. The
law requires a warrant to be shown to the owner of the premises before his/her
premises may be searched. The warrant must also indicate the items to be
searched for. The police can search premises only with a warrant signed by a
superior police officer or a magistrate or a Justice of the Peace. The person
whose premises are being searched reserves the right to insist on searching the
police officer before the officer enters the house to conduct the search.
12. Power to maintain or enforce law
and order and to use reasonable and proportionate force to prevent the
breakdown of law and order.
13. It is the responsibility of the
police to protect the identity of complainants, information and witnesses.
RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF
CITIZENS
1. A citizen has the right to be
told of his/her offence or the reason for his/her arrest and can insist on
consulting a lawyer or other representative of choice before giving any information
or making statements to the police.
2. A citizen has the right not to be
tortured or forced to confess or admit an offence he/she has not committed, or
knows nothing about.
3. A citizen has the right to write
his or her own statement personally, if he/she is literate.
4. A citizen has the right to have
an independent person of his/her choice read the statement and interpret it for
him/her if he/she is illiterate, before thumb printing.
5. A citizen has the right to refuse
to sign a statement or even write one until he/she has consulted a lawyer or a
human rights representative.
6. A citizen has the right to ask
for police bail if detained or about to be detained.
7. A citizen, who is injured in the
process of being arrested or detained by the police, shall have the right to
report to a superior police officer in that same or another police station.
He/she should also support his/her claim with a medical report obtained from
his/her doctor, and photographs of the injuries sustained while in police custody.
8. A citizen has a right not to be
harassed, intimidated or physically assaulted, threatened or tortured by the
police.
9. If a police officer takes your
personal effect such as money, wristwatch, or documents, you are entitled to
being issued a receipt, and you have a right to insist on being issued with a
receipt.
10. You have a right to be told the
reason for your arrest and/or detention.
11. It is an offense for the police
to demand bribe from you as condition to grant bail; it is also an offence for
you to give or offer bribe or any form of inducement to the police. If any
police officer demands or forces you to part with bribe, memorize or record the
name and service number of the officer involved and report the matter
immediately after you are released to a lawyer or to any human rights
organization, or to a superior police officer in that same or another police
station.
12. It is the duty of every citizen
to assist the police in their work including by giving credible information to
aid the detection, prevention and investigation of crime.
13. It is the responsibility of
every citizen to give truthful and useful information to the police.
14. It is not right to be rude to
the police, or assault a police officer or to prevent him or her from
performing his/her lawful duties.
15. If you are invited by a police
officer to report to the police station, you are under obligation to do so.
16. If you are required to appear in
court on a date specified on the bail bond, your failure to appear in court may
lead to the revocation of your bail and a bench warrant issued for your arrest.
17. Every victim of crime is
entitled to fair and humane treatment. A victim of gunshot is entitled to
prompt and adequate medical attention without any more consideration than to
save life first.
There is no law that requires
medical personnel to have a police report before treating a victim of gunshot
injury. Successive Inspectors-General of Police have clarified that police
officers should not harass, intimate or arrest any healthcare giver or hospital
staff that treat a victim or gunshot injury without a police report. If the
hospital suspects a victim to be an escaped criminal, the hospital should
commence treatment while taking steps to alert the police.
Any hospital authority or personnel
harassed by any police officer for treating a victim of gunshot injury should
report to NOPRIN or any other human rights organization.
PLEASE REPORT CASES OF HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSE BY THE POLICE OR OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO NOPRIN FOUNDATION.
NOPRIN Foundations’ Contact
Information:
Address:
44, Alhaja Kofoworola Crescent
Off Obafemi Awolowo Way (Balogun Bus
Stop),
Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
Tel: 234-1-7618925,
E-mail: noprin@noprin.org. Website: www.noprin.org
Contact Person:
Okechukwu Nwanguma
National Coordinator
Tel: 234 8064974531
Email: okechukwu@noprin.org
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