More

FOREWORD

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC by law, is the foremost Human Rights Promoter and Defender in the Nigerian Body Politic. In furtherance of her statutory mandate of promoting the Observance of Human Rights in the country, the Commission undertakes periodic examination of Prisons and other detention centers across the country in order to ensure that the activities undertaken in those places conform to the Human Rights laws of the Nation. Specifically the Commission is expected ''to visit prison, police cells and other places of detention in order to ascertain the condition thereof and make recommendations to the appropriate authorities''. It is in fulfilment of this mandate therefore, that the NHRC embarked on a nationwide Prison Audit Exercise for the year 2018. This exercise was undertaken in fulfillment of her duties of ensuring the full enjoyment of human rights by both the free and the incarcerated without discrimination. This Report is on that Prisons Audit.

The Prison will always be central to the evaluation of human rights observances in any modern Nation State It is the critical institution in the overall agenda of seeking to promote and protect fundamental human rights of people who are incarcerated in various facilities so as ensure they are treated in accordance with the UN Minimum Standard for the treatment of inmates in the prison. It is the application of the UN Standard Minimum Rules in these Audits that serve as benchmark and guidelines to spot and identify areas that need to be addressed in the overall agenda of prison reforms by the Government.

FOREWORD

Over the years, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has developed a number of instruments to aid in the interpretation and implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, particularly as it relates to criminal justice. In 2017, the Principles on the Decriminalization of Petty Offences in Africa were adopted by the African Commission. This becomes the latest development in a broader regional effort to articulate standards for acceptable human rights practices, specifically concerning matters of access to justice. This principle advocates for a holistic approach to the challenges that arise in Africa at the intersection between poverty, justice and human rights.

Despite efforts to transform criminal justice administration across Africa, particularly in Nigeria, the poor and other marginalized persons remain vulnerable to violation of their rights within the existing criminal justice framework. Such violations extend to both the enactment and enforcement of criminal laws in relation to petty offences, and to the policing which actively seeks to exclude categories of people from areas of public life, namely the poor.

FOREWORD

The 2018 National Audit Report of Police Detention Centers produced by National Human Rights Commission is the second in the series of this important publication.

Why Should the National Human Rights Care About Detainees?
The National Human Rights Commission Act 1996 (as Amended),Section 6(d) of the Act, states that the Commission has the power to:

''Visit persons, police cells and other places of detention in order to ascertain the conditions thereof and make recommendations to the appropriate authorities''

FOREWORD

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), pursuant to section 6 (d) of the National Human Rights Common Act 1995 as amended is obligated to visit persons, police cells and other places of detention in order to ascertain the conditions thereof and make recommendations to appropriate authorities. In this regard the 2020 Report of the Audit of Police Detention Centres in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is meant to assess the level of respect for the fundamental human rights of persons in detention facilities of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in the FCT.

This exercise is further necessitated by the fact that Nigeria is a party to all major international and regional human rights instruments including but not limited to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). Furthermore, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as (amended) and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules on Treatment of Prisoners set bench marks for the treatment of suspects and persons in detention.