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Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to take concrete steps to end the illegal arrest and detention of citizens by the police and other law enforcement agencies.
Falana made the call in an opinion on the statutory safeguards governing the arrest and detention of suspects, urging the NBA, under the leadership of Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, to strengthen the monitoring of detention facilities across the country.
He specifically called on the NBA to ensure that members of its Human Rights Committees in all 145 branches accompany magistrates during their monthly visits to police stations and monitor compliance with the rights of suspects.
Falana urges NBA to monitor police stations
Falana said the combined provisions of Section 34 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and Section 70 of the Nigeria Police Force Establishment Act, 2020 empower Chief Magistrates to conduct monthly visits to police stations within their magisterial districts.
According to him, the magistrates are empowered during such visits to inspect records of arrests, direct that detained suspects be brought before a court for trial or formal arraignment where appropriate, and grant bail in deserving cases.
He said the NBA should ensure that its Human Rights Committees work closely with the magistrates during the inspections to help strengthen oversight and protect the rights of detainees.
Falana said the initiative would also enable the NBA to identify cases of prolonged or unlawful detention and take appropriate legal steps to secure the release of affected citizens.
Call for Federal High Court judges to inspect detention facilities
The senior lawyer also urged the NBA leadership to mount pressure on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to designate judges to visit detention facilities other than police stations within their respective jurisdictions.
He said the relevant laws empower Federal High Court judges to inspect such facilities to ensure that suspects are not detained beyond the period permitted by the Constitution.
Falana, however, expressed concern that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court had not designated judges to undertake the visits as contemplated by law.
He urged the NBA to make the issue a priority and press for the implementation of the statutory safeguards.
Falana: NBA officers are official visitors to correctional centres
Falana further called on the new NBA leadership to activate its statutory role in monitoring correctional centres across the country.
He said Section 21 of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019 makes the President and national officers of the NBA official visitors to correctional centres.
He therefore urged the NBA President and national officers to mobilise themselves and commence regular visits to the centres without further delay.
According to him, such visits would provide an additional layer of professional and independent oversight over the treatment and conditions of inmates and detainees.
NBA urged to enforce judgment on police lawyers
Falana also referred to the judgment of the National Industrial Court in The Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v. Police Service Commission & Ors (Suit No. NICN/ABJ/264/2025), delivered by Justice O. Y. Anuwe.
He said the court declared that the police authorities have a mandatory duty to deploy police officers who are legal practitioners to police divisions across the country to assist with the enforcement of human rights in policing, pursuant to Section 66(3) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.
Falana urged the NBA leadership to ensure compliance with the judgment by securing the deployment of police officers who are legal practitioners to police divisions.
He said the officers should help monitor compliance with the fundamental rights of suspects and ensure that established safeguards are observed during arrest, detention and investigation.
‘NBA must protect indigent citizens’
Falana said the NBA should use the powers and mechanisms available to it under the law to protect indigent citizens who may be particularly vulnerable to unlawful arrest and prolonged detention.
He stressed that the protection of fundamental rights should not be limited to courtroom advocacy but should also extend to effective monitoring of police stations, correctional centres and other detention facilities.
He said the NBA had a responsibility to ensure that statutory safeguards against unlawful detention were implemented throughout the country.
The Nigerian legal framework provides several safeguards intended to protect the rights of persons arrested or detained by law enforcement agencies. These include judicial oversight of detention, access to bail in appropriate circumstances and protection against treatment that violates constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights.
Falana’s call comes against this legal and institutional background, with the senior lawyer urging the NBA to make the enforcement of these safeguards a practical priority through regular monitoring, legal intervention and engagement with relevant law enforcement authorities.
He said stronger involvement by the NBA’s Human Rights Committees, national officers and legal practitioners within the police would help ensure that citizens are not unlawfully deprived of their liberty.
