Nigeria’s Human rights lawyer cum Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana, has faulted the comment by Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, regarding how Nigerians should respond to assault by police officers.
Quest Times earlier reported that Adejobi irked many citizens on Saturday when he said Nigerians have no right to retaliate if assaulted by policemen. He said policemen are always protected against attacks by law.
Reacting, in a statement Monday, Falana said an assault on Nigerians attracts 25 years imprisonment as citizens are entitled to fundamental rights.
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In citing the Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and Police Establishment Act 2020, Falana argued that police officers and other law enforcement personnel have been prohibited “from subjecting Nigerian people including criminal suspects to degrading, humiliating or inhumane treatment.
“By virtue of section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution, every citizen is entitled to the fundamental right to the dignity of their person. Accordingly, no citizen shall be subjected to any mental, physical or psychological torture,” he said.
