POLICE BAIL IS FREE!!!
Just 2 years ago, the Nigerian Police Complaint Response Unit has stated that bail is free in Nigeria negating the widely held belief that people are obligated to pay before they are released on bail, but the question is; Is Bail Free in Nigeria?.
The moment you make an entry to any police station in Nigeria, you will be welcomed with the bold inscription on the wall “Bail is free”. This is a law that has never been respected or upheld by the police. To research on this issue, I went to a police station in Bauchi state, Yelwa division to ascertain how genuine that law is in the police stations and divisions. On getting there, in less than 10minutes I saw an inhumane act, something a Human Right activist will gulped at. I saw an epileptic suspect having a seizure, to my greatest surprise, the police officers present at that time ignored this suspect for over an hour. When they eventually decided to take him to the hospital, they took him as if they were carrying a bag of rice and tossed him in their van carelessly. I also noticed how police officers manhandle suspects and are rude to visitors who came by to see or bail their loved once. This brutal act made me to remember the police Motto; ‘POLICE IS YOUR FRIEND’. Indeed they are.
It is almost impossible for one to be taken to the Nigerian police station for any offence and then get bailed for free, yet it is boldly written on their wall BAIL IS FREE. Managing corruption is one of the major goals of this government, and so far so good corruption is slowly on a decline up there, but the government is ignoring the grass root level corruption and a good example is this issue of bail. The law says bail is free, then going against that is a crime that needs to be checkmated.
In a bid to eradicate extortion and illegal procurement of funds by its officers, The Nigerian Police has re-launched the Bail is Free Campaign last year in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. To ensure compliance with the order, the Inspector General of Police gave orders to all Assistant Inspector General of Police and State Commissioners of police to make sure that bail is free and for a sign/inscription be written on the wall in the crime branch, statement room or charge room in all police divisions and stations. That is why the inscription “BAIL IS FREE” is written on the wall of every police station/division. But those are just meaningless words to the police officers as up till today, one has to pay before he or she is bailed.
To procure a solution to this problem, I think the following steps has to be taking
Enlightening the populace on their rights;
The populace has to know what bail is. To help on that, I have made an effort to get information on bail in the Nigerian constitution which every citizen ought to know.
What Is Bail
Bail is the process whereby a person accused or being charged for the commission of an offence is released by the constituted authority who is detaining him, on the condition that he will appear or report to a police station or court or other identified location in future whenever his presence is required or so ordered.
Types of Bail
Police or Administrative: when someone is suspected of a crime and the police or government agencies investigating the crime are yet to obtain enough evidence to charge the suspect to court, the Nigeria 1999 constitution provides that the accused person who has been arrested on the said allegation must be charged to court within 24 hours where a court of proximate jurisdiction is located within the radius of forty kilometer from the police station. The accused person must be charged to court within 48 hours.
It is therefore illegal and unconstitutional for a suspect to be detained for more than 48hours by the police without bail or without charging them to court. This law doesn’t just affect the police, but other government agencies like EFCC, ICPC and NDLEA.
Court Bail: Court bail is granted by court of law. It can be granted into 2 scenarios;
Bail pending trial is when the case against the accused is still on-going, but the accused is allowed to leave detention until the end of the trial. This is because an individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
Bail pending appeal is where the person has been found guilty and he/she intends to appeal the conviction. This type is generally more difficult to obtain because the presumption of innocence is no longer there.
Bail Conditions
Bail conditions are the conditions which are set to ensure that the accused person presents him/herself to the authorities when his/her presence is required. Some of the conditions are;
To appear in court at a certain date
Living at a particular address
Not contacting certain people
Sometime even house arrest.
Giving his/her passport to the police or other law enforcement agency.
Getting a Surety (one who undertakes to pay money or perform other acts in the event that his principal fails there in.
Once a citizen knows these basics, it will be hard for the police to extort them in that manner. So I think the government on their part should ensure that the citizens are well educated on their right, once that is done, there will be an uproar and revolt to payment of bails.
Punishing any Division or State found extorting people for bail
I think a unit should be created or formed to serve as a watch dog to this corrupt practice. That unit will create a deterrent to the extortion practices of the police officers.
Excellent and upright police officers should be recognize and honored
This will serve as a catalyst to making police officers upright in their duty, and it will make them feel their good work is well recognize and appreciated.
How can there be security when the agencies charged with the optimization of security are involved in corrupt practices. An average Nigerian don’t trust a police officer which is not supposed to be so. The police are meant to be our solace when we are in trouble, but reverse is the case. To prove this point, I went round taking a vox-pop to get the public opinion of their experiences with the police, it was awful. Many people trust their community vigilante more to than the police. They rather report a case to the vigilante group than the police, reasons because police extort them whenever they take their case to them. They made mention of ways through which police extort them, they include;
Payment of money to fuel their van when they are to go out.
They will be fed while out by the individual who reported the case
When paying for bail, you will also pay for Izal which they claim they buy to wash the cells toilets.
Peradventure they help you to settle a case, they will demand for a thank you brown envelope.
Note, I am not out to criticize the police, all I want is for them to do right and act as their motto says. All I want is to be friends with the police, simple!
Luka Joshua Luka.
Bauchi state.

but the free has a fee