By Francis Ogunbowale
A judge or a magistrate is a judicial officer appointed to protect, interpret and defend the Constitution through the adjudication of cases in court. See Ijiwande Francis V The State (2015) LPELR-25802 (CA). As a result, the judge is expected to be protected within and outside the court room, against all forms of assault and intimidation. This protection is essentially provided by the police.
It is therefore very sad and horrible, when the news broke out, early April, 2023, that some 6 unscrupulous, ill-cultured and very unethical police constables attached to Ibi Police Division in Taraba State, on illegal duties, descended on Mallam Abdurrahaman Rilwan, the Presiding Judge of the Area Court in Wukari, beat him to a bloody pulp and left him with bruises all over his body. His offence was that he corrected their wrong actions, within the vicinity of the court.
It is to be noted that the law empowers a judge to make an arrest or direct the arrest of a suspect committing an offence in his presence. See Section 41 of the Police Act. Therefore, it is not out of place for His Honour, Mallam Rilwan, to correct the erring police constables, for their wrong doing, within the vicinity of the court.
But this is not the first time the police will treat judicial officers like a conquered specie. The high-brow case occurred when the police invaded the residence of Justice Mary Odili, JSC, on the 29th of October 2021, under the guise of wanting to conduct search on her residence, with a warrant, which could not be verified after the dastardly action. The police, by the ‘gustapo’ conduct, properly harassed her and by extension by her entire family, without any consequence thereafter, known to the public.
The Nigerian Police Force is a creation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and The Nigeria Police Force (Establishment) Act, 2020. Section 214 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, provides for the establishment of a police force in Nigeria. Section 4 of the Police Act, on the other hand provides for the primary functions of the police to be prevention and detection of crime and protection of the rights of every person. This cannot be done without the courts and the judicial officers.
The Court of Appeal in the case of IGP v Peter O. Ikpila & Anor (2015) LPELR-40630 mince no words that the police have the duty not to hurt the innocent, unarmed and defenceless citizens and cannot exercise its powers, with impunity or in reckless disregard and in contravention of the laws of the land to infringe upon the inalienable fundamental rights of the citizens as constitutionally guaranteed.
Some analysts have argued that the Nigerian Police Force may have been founded on a wrong path of brutality, intimidation of innocent citizens, to frontally tackle disobedience or perceived disloyalty to Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of England and the colonial rule. It follows therefore that the officers and men who succeeded the Constabularies and now constitute the Nigerian Police force, may have unconsciously inherited and adopted that ‘brute’ culture of forceful repression of citizens’ rights, through the use of batons and other forms of inhuman treatment on the people.
Our argument here is that the act of assaulting judges and the citizens by the police under whatever guise is unacceptable and unnecessary. One, it offends Section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that guarantees the dignity of human person. Two, it whittles down the importance of the Police Act that establishes the Nigerian Police Force and provides officers and men with training and retraining programs for human rights, public relations and democratic policing. Three, it undermines the roles and dignity of the judges and inhibits their independence in ensuring rule of law and natural justice. The courts can only function well when the police act within the rule of their engagement.
Although the Police Authorities have acted rightly and promptly by putting the erring police officers that assaulted Mallam Abdurrahaman Rilwan, the Wukari Area court Judge, on administrative disciplinary measure and it is expected that they will subsequently be charged to court, there is need for re-orientation programs towards democratic policing for the entire police force. In addition, there is need for a sound ethical rebirth to reconstruct the negative attitude and the mind set of the police, to a positive and acceptable one.
Ethical rebirth of the police will create a better value change, instil discipline in officers and men, encourage good moral conduct and restore the already battered image of the police.
Francis Ogunbowale is a Lawyer in Lagos