In addition to taking off Dele Farotimi’s handcuffs

Two days ago, Mr. Dele Farotimi who is currently standing trial in Ado Ekiti for criminal defamation was handcuffed by the authorities of the Ado Ekiti Correctional Centre. As there was no basis for the restraint, the action of the prison management was deprecated in the media. Since the detained lawyer had not exhibited any form of violence, some lawyers argued that the treatment meted out to him could not be justified under Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which provides that a suspect or defendant may not be handcuffed, bound or subjected to restraint except: (a) there is reasonable apprehension of violence or an attempt to escape; (b) the restraint is considered necessary for the safety of the suspect or defendant, or (c) by order of a court.

In the last 20 years or thereabout, this is the fourth time that the restraint of suspects has been condemned in the media. Specifically, the decision of the authorities to handcuff Tafa Balogun (a former Inspector-General of Police), Olisa Metuh (a former chieftain of the PDP), Agba Jalingo (an online publisher) and Dele Farotimi (a lawyer) was greeted with opprobrium in the media. Based on the condemnation of the humiliation of such suspects, the restraint of each of them was hurriedly discontinued. Hence, Mr. Dele Dele Farotimi was not handcuff him to the Magistrate Court yesterday.

In several WhatsApp groups, petit bourgeois lawyers and journalists have congratulated themselves for the social media campaign that compelled the prison management to discard Mr. Dele Farotimi’s handcuffs. However, on a daily basis, lowly placed criminal suspects are handcuffed to and from the several High Courts and Magistrate Courts in all the states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. As if that is not enough, such suspects are regularly leg chained like slaves in sugar plantations in the Americas during the slave trade.

The dehumanisation of poor suspects is considered normal by the elite in our stratified society. For instance, a couple of months ago, a police command paraded a suspect before the electronic and print media for stealing five tubers of yam valued at less than N10,000 to feed himself and his family members. At about the same time, a public officer accused of stealing over N100 billion was neither handcuffed nor paraded before the media.

It is only when politically exposed persons and the elite are charged with criminal offences that lawyers and journalists wax lyrical and pontificate so passionately on the sanctity of the presumption of innocence enshrined in Section 36 of the Constitution and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.

Under the current democratic dispensation, four judgments of the Ecowas Court and domestic courts in Nigeria have declared the parade of suspects illegal on the ground that it is prejudicial to the right of fair hearing. Based on such judicial decisions, the human rights community mounted a vigorous campaign for an end to the practice of parading suspects by law enforcement agencies in Nigeria.

Although the campaign has not succeeded, the Lagos State House of Assembly prohibited the parade of criminal suspects via an amendment of the Criminal Law carried out in February 2009. Since the Houses of Assembly of other states have failed to adopt the progressive position of the Lagos State Government, our law firm has filed a suit in the Federal High Court seeking to stop the Nigeria Police Force, EFCC, ICPC and other security agencies from further parading criminal suspects in chains.

However, in marking this year’s Human Rights Day, the National Human Rights Commission held a conference at Abuja on December 5, 2024. In his goodwill message delivered at the conference, Mr. Hashimu Argungu, the chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) condemned the practice of parading suspects in chains. It is hoped that the Nigeria Police Force will soon ban all police commands from subjecting poor suspects to handcuffs and leg chains before the media.

In order not to be accused of hypocrisy, Nigerian lawyers should join the campaign to ban detaining authorities from further subjecting all suspects and defendants to the restraint of handcuffs and leg chains except it is authorised by a court. Nigerian lawyers should also ensure that suspects and defendants are not exposed to any form of media trial. Journalists should also stop the contemptuous culture in the media by which pages of newspapers, television and radio studios as well myriad online platforms have been turned into parallel trial courts.

The point that I am struggling to make is this: the campaign for humane treatment of suspects should not end simply because the prison authorities have removed the handcuffs of Mr. Dele Farotimi. In other words, it is time that the handcuffs and leg chains of other suspects and defendants were removed.

(PM NEWS)