Bail at the police station is free. You are entitled to a lawyer. You do not have to write a statement alone. Knowing these three things changes the outcome of a great many cases.
Most people who find themselves at a police station have never been there before, are frightened, and want above all for the situation to end quickly. That combination produces the decisions that do the lasting damage — statements written without advice, sums paid that should never have been demanded, and admissions made about matters the maker did not fully understand.
What follows is a plain statement of the position under Nigerian law. Read it before you need it.
You have the right to remain silent
The Constitution guarantees that a person arrested or detained shall be informed in writing, within twenty-four hours and in a language they understand, of the facts and grounds for the arrest, and shall be permitted to remain silent until they have consulted a legal practitioner.
Silence is not evidence of guilt. It is a constitutional entitlement, and exercising it until your lawyer arrives is the single most protective decision available to you.
You are entitled to a lawyer
You may consult a legal practitioner of your own choice, and you are entitled to have counsel present while a statement is taken. Do not accept an assurance that a lawyer is unnecessary because "you are only helping with enquiries". That characterisation has no bearing on your rights.
If you are invited to a police station, call a lawyer before you go — and go with one.
Do not write a statement alone
A voluntary statement is the prosecution's most useful document, and it is very often the only meaningful evidence in the file. Statements written under pressure, in a language the maker is not fluent in, or after hours of questioning, are the most common avoidable cause of conviction.
Read anything you are asked to sign, in full. Do not sign a blank or partly completed page. If what is written does not reflect what you said, say so and do not sign it.
Bail at the police station is free
This bears repeating because it is so routinely ignored: bail at the police station is free. Where money is demanded as a condition of release, that demand is itself unlawful. It should be recorded, resisted, and taken up — which is precisely the sort of intervention counsel is there to make.
There are limits on how long you may be detained
A person arrested must be brought before a court within a reasonable time — generally twenty-four hours where a court of competent jurisdiction is within a forty-kilometre radius, and forty-eight hours otherwise. Detention beyond the constitutional period, without an order of court, is unlawful.
Where detention has become unlawful, an application to enforce fundamental rights can secure release and, in appropriate cases, compensation.
Practical steps if someone you know is arrested
- Find out which station they are being held at, and the name of the investigating officer.
- Establish what offence is alleged, and whether a complaint has actually been made.
- Instruct a lawyer immediately — the first twenty-four hours matter more than any later stage.
- Do not pay money to secure bail. Ask for the demand to be put in writing.
- Keep a written record of times, names and what was said. It is frequently decisive later.
An arrest is not a conviction
The burden of proving a criminal charge rests on the prosecution throughout, and the standard is proof beyond reasonable doubt. Your task is not to prove your innocence. It is to avoid handing the prosecution a case it did not otherwise have.
If you or a member of your family is arrested, call us. Criminal matters are handled as they arise, including outside office hours.
Note. This article is general commentary on Nigerian law and is not legal advice. Its application depends entirely on your facts. Speak to counsel before acting on anything you read here.