A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, yesterday condemned the Nigeria Police for allegedly parading 20 suspects of Ile-Ife crisis and 49 officials of the Peace Corps of Nigeria before the media.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), added that the decision of the Nigeria Police to parade the suspects before the media before their arraignment violated Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Act.

He faulted the practice of parading suspects before media in a statement he issued yesterday, noting that the media parade and trial of criminal suspects was absolutely illegal, unconstitutional and uncalled-for.

In a statement he personally signed, the human rights lawyer cited different judicial precedents, which according to him, condemned the illegal practice of parading criminal suspects before the media.

He referred to a judicial precedent in a case between Ndukwem Chiziri Nice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), noting that Justice Adebukola Banjoko held that the act of parading a suspect before the media was uncalled for and a callous disregard for his person.

He also cited another precedent in a suit between Dyot Bayi and Federal Republic of Nigeria, noted that the ECOWAS Court condemned the media trial and parade of suspects.

He, thus, quoted the decision of the court as follows: “The court is of the opinion that for the fact that the defendants presented the applicants before the press when no judge or court has found them guilty, certainly constitute a violation of the principle of presumption of innocence such as provided in Article 7(b) of the same African Charter.”

Contingent on the constitutional provisions and judicial precedents cited above, Falana condemned the decision of the Nigeria Police to parade the 20 suspects it arrested in connection to a clash between the Yoruba and Hausa communities in Ile Ife, Osun State.

He lamented that even though the courts “have repeatedly cautioned the law enforcement agencies to desist from parading criminal suspects before the media, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris has justified the illegal practice.”

He noted that the practice “is an outright violation of the fundamental right of criminal suspects to fair hearing. The federal government has had to pay huge monetary damages to victims of media parade and trial conducted from time to time by law enforcement agencies in the country.”

Consequently, the senior advocate asked the AGF, Mr. Abubakar Malami “to order the arrest and prosecution of law enforcement personnel who engage in the media parade, trial and extrajudicial killing of criminal suspects in custody.”

Since the report of the media trial and parade of criminal suspects is libelous by all standards, he urged the publishers and owners of media organisations “to desist from colluding with law enforcement personnel in the crude violation of human rights.

“In view of the constitutional protection of the fundamental right of all citizens, we call on any criminal suspect who is paraded by any law enforcement body to seek redress in a court of law.