The arbitrary arrest of innocent citizens in Nigeria on trumped up charges is on the increase and worrisome.
Okoro Chibuike ,a Lawyer and Founder of Unity against Injustice,has presented below a satirical narration of how this practice is perpetrated in Nigeria which usually begins with false complain.
1.Go to any police command and make a false report of armed robbery against your target to (Special Armed Robbery Squad)SARS.
2. Induce the officers with money and tell them what you want.
3.To make the matter look real, organize some boys to come and scatter your house at the odd hours of the night.
4.Tell the police that you identified the man because you know him and saw him.
5.Then they will come and arrest him with handcuffs on a charge of armed robbery and may shoot him on the leg depending on your instruction.
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6.And the relatives or friends that come for his bail will be beaten up thoroughly and may be forced to buy balm and other cream for the officers who beat them to use to massage their hands after the beating .
7.The officers may go through the phone of the suspects and select some phone numbers at random and go after them to blackmail them and may still charge them to court as accomplice.
8.They may even tell their fellow officers who are looking for some suspect to come for the suspects as they would claim that those are the names in the wanted list and the officers from any state could come and bundle the suspects to that state.
9.And to make the matters worse for them ,they may use the phone numbers of the suspects and call numbers of wanted people and then save such numbers in the suspects phone which is in their custody and then force them to make further statement concerning the robbery for which those people were suspected and force them to admit knowing them and have their numbers in their phone.
10.They will refuse to grant him bail because they will tell you that it is a capital offence.
11.They will keep him in detention for months as they will tell you that they are still investigating.
12..When they get tired of keeping him ,they will charge him to court for armed robbery.
13.The court may also refuse bail for the same reason and the case continues.
14.The victim may not see the sky for the next 3 years .
15.Then the court will strike out the case after many years for want of diligent prosecution .
Most capital offences in Nigeria have these nature of facts that is why lawyers hardly believe the police or the complainant until they hear from the suspect.
Okoro chibuike.
