Over the years ,the country's topmost security agency ,the Nigerian Police Force and in fact other security agencies have seemingly been in the habit of declaring persons/citizens wanted on reasons bothering on various allegations. More recently are the recent cases of persons like Mr Kassim Afegbua, spokesperson for the former military president,Ibrahim Babangida who was declared wanted by the Nigerian Police Force and Department of State Security Service (DSS) over a purported statement by him unbehalf of his Boss, asking President Buhari not to run for the 2019 elections.
Another instance is the case the of Chief Executive Officer of AITEO Group, Benedict Peters,who was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in relation to charges bothering on his alleged involvement in $115m allegedly used by agents of the past administration to bribe officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission during the 2015 election.Though both parties have gone on to challenge the legality of such declarations by these law enforcement agencies,but the topmost question is not whether these agencies can declare a person wanted under our laws in exercise of their constitutional duties ?
-The Legal Perspective-
The law is settled that the Police can not arrogate unto itself powers to prosecute and pass a sentence by way of declaring a citizen wanted.Article 9 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Right to which Nigeria is signatory to provides that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. This provision is also domesticated in Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, and guarantees that the dignity of all Nigerians must enjoy safeguards against arbitariness whether official or non official.In other words, the Police CANNOT on its own declare a nigerian citizen WANTED as it can not be the complainant, the investigator and also the one to declare such citizens wanted thereby overriding judicial powers.
The law demands that before making a wanted declaration of a Nigerian Citizen on a Public Platform or any other platform , the police ought to obtain a warrant arrest duly signed and endorsed by a competent court. The said warrant must also be presented at the point of arrest and it in the particulars of arrest ought to be spelt out. Where a person sought to be arrested makes a run or evades same ,then a declaration informing the public of the accused person's status may be made but same must follow the due process of law by getting a competent order of court.
In the said case of Benedict Peters, in the suit marked, FCT/HC/CV/23/2017, the Applicant accused EFCC of declaring him wanted on its website without following due process.The EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation were the respondents to the above suit.
The plaintiff, through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), contended that his client was declared wanted by the EFCC without a pending charge against him or a valid court order to that effect but merely on the basis of a purported bench warrant and same was a violation of his fundamental rights ,But Justice Musa, in his judgment, noted that there were discrepancies in the dates in a copy of the bench warrant tendered by the EFCC.
He said it was wrong for the EFCC to declare Peters wanted on the basis of the bench warrant, which he noted, did not contain any instruction to that effect.The judge held that EFCC’s decision to declare Peters wanted, without first obtaining a court order to that effect or filing a charge against him in court, was a violation of his fundamental rights, particularly the right to freedom of movement.
Lastly, the implication of declaring a person wanted is to the effect that such persons declared wanted is seen by the public or is assumed by the public that such a person is not just a wanted criminal, but also a potentially dangerous one. Note that, the serious implication of such above presumptions makes any deviation from the above process by law agencies in question an abrogation of lawful processes, a clear indicator that the said agency in question seeks to appropriate to itself powers vested singularly in the courts and also a gross disrespect of the accused person’s dignity of self, especially where he or she is neither on the run, in hiding nor knowing of the summon, invitation or intended arrest.”
Security agencies in the exercise of their lawful duties are therefore mandated to follow the due process of law.
Umoru Theophilus Iko-Ojo is a Legal Practitioner based in Lagos.
Contact@emmanuellawattorneys@gmail.com
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