A most unpleasant event occurred in an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos Island recently, which illustrated the total disregard of the human rights and dignity of detainees and inmates in the custody of the Nigerian law enforcement agencies.

An 18 year-old suspect, one Avekpon Bernard who was being arraigned along with 22 others, had to defecate in the dock because he was denied the right to answer an urgent call of nature while about to be docked.

He complained to the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) who brought them to court about his pressing need to visit the toilet. But rather than helping him out, the police officer insisted that he must go into the dock with the others who were being tried for acts likely to cause a breach of public order.

When Avekpon could no longer bear the distress he had no choice but to relieve himself in the dock, which fouled the atmosphere in the courtroom. Ironically, the same police officer who had refused to assist him was the one ordered to take the young man out of the court and sort out the mess.

This is one of the legions of cases of maltreatment of suspects brought into the custody of the law in Nigeria, particularly the Police and the Prisons. The failure of government to upgrade the facilities of our correctional institutions is exacerbated by the unfeeling and inhumane attitudes of correctional officers to detainees, with the result that the suspects are treated worse than convicted criminals. This flies in the face of the presumption of our laws that suspects are innocent until convicted after a due process trial.
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