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21 Jan 2018

January 21, 2018

Euthanasia and the Right to Life



Euthanasia is the act and practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary Medical treatment. Euthanasia is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependant human being for his or her alleged benefit. Euthanasia could be voluntary, involuntary Assisted Suicide or By Action or Omission.

Voluntary Euthanasia


This is when the person who is killed has requested to be killed through  a living ‘Will’ or by giving power of Attorney to a health proxy to take the decision on his/her behalf.

Involuntary Euthanasia


This is a situation when the person who is killed made an expressed  wish to the contrary.

Assisted Suicide


This is a situation where someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill himself, it is called “Physician Assisted Suicide.”

Euthanasia by Action


This occurs when a person intentionally causes a person’s death by performing an action such as by giving a Lethal Injection.

Euthanasia by Omission


Euthanasia by Omission is the intentional causing of death by refusing to provide ‘necessaries’ and ordinary (usual and customary) care - the act or practice of painlessly terminating the life of a person. It is accepted in some cultures. In Nigeria it may be treated as criminal and subject, to prosecution under the Criminal and Penal codes.


An exception to prosecution has been developed in some jurisdictions in which the termination of the life of an incurable ill patient is no longer treated as criminal if:

            •         done by a guardian or immediate family member
            •        after consultation with an ethics committee of a hospital, and
     •  accomplished by the negative means of withdrawing life support systems or extraordinary medical care rather than by some affirmative act.

In other jurisdiction like United State America, England, Canada, etc.  the state is highly involved in euthanasia cases. The state can specify the number of individuals that must agree for euthanasia to be performed;  the state can specify how frequently someone can sign an euthanasia authorisation. The state can also specify that only the individual can decide. Living Wills are part in the legal aspect of euthanasia. A living Will expresses a patient’s thoughts towards his/her future medical treatment. Living will allows anyone capable of making decisions to tell the  doctors before hand that he/she does not wish to be put on life support.

Right to Life


The right to life asserts the sanctity of human life. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights put it thus: “Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right”.

The exceptions allowed by the Nigeria Constitution with regard to right to life, amount to a serious derogation. For example, the police may , in specified circumstances, kill in the process of arrest, of quelling a riot insurrection or mutiny. See section 33 (2) (c) of the 1999 constitution. Most constitutions provide that the right to life may be derogated from where a death sentence is imposed under due process of Law.

The right to life has often been extended in some jurisdictions to cover “the right to die” either by committing suicide or assisted suicide, as in voluntary euthanasia in case of a terminally ill patient. Several organizations exist in many parts of the world which espouse suicide  and euthanasia as fundamental rights.

Dr. Akinola Aguda expressed this idea that Right to die is a fundamental postulate. He said suicide is an offence which ought to be decriminalized. He asserts that suicide is a manifestation of the illness  He asked; “what does the right to life mean when indeed he feels he will be happier if that very life is taken away from him; it does not matter to him whether he lives or not? Consequently, cases of attempted suicide should not be punished; as such an action will only increase his social depressions. Euthanasia similarly is a question of morality and not of Criminal Law. Thus, people suffering from terminal diseases should in Aguda’s view have the right to end their suffering.


REFERENCES


      A Aguda “New Perspectives on Law and Justice in Nigeria”: The Crisis of Justice Akure Eresu Hills Publishers 1986.

     A Aguda: “Capital Punishment: Should it be abolished” in selected law lectures and papers (Associated Publishers (Nig) Ltd 1971.

     A Aguda “Law as a means of Social Hygiene in the Judiciary in the Government of Nigeria, New Horn Press. 1983.

     Prof Alibed: [1986] Hon Dr T. Akinola Aguda, The Man, His Work and Society Nigeria Institute of Advance Legal Studies.

     Akin Ibidapo-Obe:- Essays on Human Rights Law in Nigeria: Concept Publication Ltd 2005.



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January 21, 2018

Abortion Law



Abortion may be described as the termination of a pregnancy by the willful act of any person. This activity impinges on many areas of Law. Abortion and Contraception have been widely available throughout the history of Western Civilization, despite ethical concerns on the part of some. Plato and Aristotle both argued in favour of compulsory abortion under certain circumstances though Hippocrates expressly disapproved of the practice. Under Roman Law, abortion sometimes occurred but family planning was conducted mainly through the exposure of healthy newborns – usually to protect the rights and interests of the biological father.

Religious authorities have taken various positions on abortion. As a matter of common law in England and the United States, abortion was illegal any time after quickening – when the movement of the foetus could first be felt by the woman. Many Western countries used statutes  to codify or further restrict abortion. However, by the 20th century, many countries had begun to legalize abortions when performed to protect the life of the woman, and in some cases to protect the health of the woman.

Abortion under International Law


In addition to national and regional Laws, there are multinational and international treaties, conventions and laws that may actually be  enforced on or within signatory nations. However, there is an inherent difficulty in the enforcement of International Law due to the issue that state sovereignty poses. As such the effectiveness of even binding multi- national efforts to legislate the rights to life and liberty in general, or abortion in specific it difficult to measure. Examples of such efforts that have bearing for Abortion Law, nationally or internationally includes;

 The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action States in paragraph 96

“The human rights of women include their right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of  coercion, discrimination and violence”.

The non-binding document has been adopted by 189 countries at the United Nations fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China.

Abortion Law in Nigeria

Abortion related offences under the Nigeria law are mainly:

           i.       Attempt to procure abortion, knowingly supplying things to procure abortion,
           ii.     Killing an unborn child,
          iii.   Child destruction and (in the case of the death of the victim) Murder or manslaughter as the peculiar facts of each case may determine.

Attempt to Procure Abortion


The Criminal Code Act (CC); Penal Code (P.C.); also codify this offence. This offence is committed when: “any person with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether or not she is with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatsoever.”

The offence of attempting to procure an abortion is a felony which attracts a punishment of 14 years imprisonment.


Knowing supplying things to procure Abortion


Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything whatsoever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawful used to procure a miscarriage, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for 3 years. In RV Edgal (1938) 4 WACA 133. it was contended that the thing supplied by the appellant were mere “abaisoko leaves, blue  powder, “urine” seed and ‘kaun’ (potash) which the prosecution had not proved to be noxious, poisonous, by definition of S. 230 of the Criminal Code. Dismissing the contention, the court noted that section 230 spoke of “anything whatsoever” and therefore the prosecution was not required to prove that the substance were in fact noxious.

The English Law regarding abortion has been expanded beyond the scope of Nigeria law on the subject. In 1967, the Abortion Act was passed in England which introduced some notable changes to section 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Persons Act 1891. Importantly, it stipulated that a person is not liable for the offence of procuring an abortion where such a person is a registered medical practitioner, if two other registered medical practitioners are of the opinion formed in good faith that the abortion should be carried out for the purpose of:

i.                    Preventing risk to the life of the pregnant woman
ii.                  Preventing injury to the physical and mental health of the pregnant woman
iii.                Preventing injury to existing children of her family.
iv.                Preventing substantial risk of physical or mental abnormality in the unborn child.

The Act further provides that, in determining the necessity for an abortion, the medical practitioner responsible may take cognizance of the pregnant woman’s actual or foreseeable environment.

“Under Section 1 (3) of the 1967 Law, any treatment for the termination of a pregnancy must be carried out in a “hospital registered in the Minister of Health or the secretary of State under the National Health Services Acts. The 1967 Act is obviously a remarkable development in the Law.

Killing an Unborn Child


The offence of killing an unborn child in Nigeria is created  under  section 328 and 236 of the Criminal and Penal Codes Respectively. The Codes provide for the punishment of life imprisonment for any persons who by an act of omission or commission prevents a child from being born alive by a woman about to be delivered of a child. Allowance is made under section 297 and 235 of the Criminal and Penal Codes respectively for a situation where the unborn child may be killed for the preservation of the life of the mother. This is the only statutory expression of the preservation of the life of a mother as a lawful justification for “abortion” under Nigeria Criminal Law. When this provision is read in conjunction with section 228 and 229 of the criminal code, it reinforces the judicial position expressed in RV Edgal to the effect that an abortion performed to preserve the life of a pregnant woman is lawful.

Constitutional Aspect of Abortion

Constitutionally abortion touches on several fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution of Nigeria namely, the rights to life, the Right to Privacy and family life; the Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Whenever the individual asserts any of these rights; he invariably struggles for more leeway against state intervention.

In the area of Criminal Law, there is no doubt that the law relating to abortion needs to be reviewed, at least along the lines of the English Abortion act 1967 to allow for legally supervised abortions. The present law presents the prospects of serious physical danger to many pregnant women seeking abortion who are forced to patronize back street abortions and quack chemist peddling dangerous drugs.

The present Law stifles progressive development of Medical expertise in this area because Medical practitioners are understandably afraid to engage their skills for fear of Criminal sanctions. Despite the Criminalization of abortion, a number of women still go ahead and fund their own means of getting it. The need for legal but regulated abortion procedures definitely outweighs any social harm implicit in retaining laws against the practice.



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January 21, 2018

Judicial Approach to Fundamental Human Rights in Nigeria



The striking features of fundamental rights provision in the Constitution is that they provide a just balance between the rights of the subject on  the one hand and that of the government or state on the other (per Idigbe J.S.C, in the” All Nigeria Judges Conference in 1982).

Thus to the great jurist, “human rights” is more of an earthly concept. In Saude V Abdullahi (1989) 4 NWLR (pt 116) 32 at 418 – 419, the court said:

“I regard them as not just mere rights. They are fundamental. They belong to the citizen. These rights have always existed even before orderliness prescribed rules for manner they are to be sought”.

“Indeed, human rights have to stand above the ordinary laws of the land. They are antecedent to the political society itself. Human Rights are and must be a primary condition to a civilized society. Thomas Paine one of the greatest thinkers of rights of man vilified governments without constitutions for the reason that the Laws of such governments would be irrational and tyrannical. He said of the British system of government -
“one of the vitest that can be set up”

He went on: - “Government without a Constitution for the want of a constitution in England to restrain and regulate the wild impulse of power, many of the laws are irrational and tyrannical and the administration of them vague and problematical.

The concept of “remedies” is clearly related to the concept of “right”, as well expressed in the Latin maxim Ubi ius ubi remedium or “a remedy accrues only where there is a right Remedy “is the means employed to enforce or redress an injury.”

Constitutional Construction

Judicial attitude to individual rights in the 1999 Constitution is dictated by the principles which the courts do or should follow in the interpretation and construction of the provisions of the Constitution. Sir Udo Udoma JSC, said in Nafiu Rabiu V The State (1981) 2 NCLR 293 at 326 that:

“the function of the Constitution is to establish a framework and principle of government, broad and general in the terms intended to apply to the varying conditions which the development of our several communities must involve. Ours being a plural dynamic society, and therefore, more technical rules of interpretation of statutes are to some extent inadmissible in a way so as to defeat the principle of government enshrined in the Constitution……… this court should whenever possible and in response to the demands of justice, team to the broader interpretation. It is my view that the approach of this court to the construction of the Constitution should be and so it has been one of liberalism, probably a variation on the theme of the general maxim ut, res magis valeat quam pereat. I do not conceive it to be the duty of this court so as to construe any of the provisions of the Constitution as to defeat the obvious ends the Constitution was designed to serve where another construction equally in accord and consistent with the words and sense of such provision will serve to enforce and protect such ends”.

Nnamani, JSC followed suit in Bronik Motors Ltd V Wema Bank Ltd (1983) 6SC 158 that: “….a constitutional instrument should not necessarily be construed in a manner and according to rules which apply to Acts of Parliament. Although the manner of interpretation of a Constitutional instrument should give effect to the language used, recognition should also be given to the character and origins of the instrument. These I believe should be the approach of the courts in construing all the provisions of the Constitution which entrenched individual rights.

Rights Entrenched in the 1999 Constitution


The rights entrenched in the 1999 Constitution, just like  those entrenched in the 1979 constitution, can be grouped under two broad headings, namely, those which appertain to every person within our borders, and those claimable as of right by citizen. All these rights come under chapter IV of the constitution sections 32, 33(1) 34, 35, and 36,37,38,39,40,41,42. All the rights stated in those eleven sections are assured to all citizen of this country.

Section 33)1) says that every person within our borders has the right to his life, while section 34 assures every such individual respect for the dignity of his person etc.

Samples of Judicial Approach


The examination of this heading should begin by recalling the dictum of Eso JSC in Ariori & Ors V Elemor&ors (1983) ANLR I at 19 where he said:

“Having regard to the nascence of our Constitution, the comparative educational backwardness, the socio-economic and cultural background of the people of this country and the reliance that is being placed and necessarily have to be placed, as a result of this background on the courts, and finally the general atmosphere in the country, I think the supreme court has a duty to safeguard the fundamental rights in this country, which from its age and problems that are bound to associate with it, is still having an experiment democracy”.

The following cases serve as a clear testing of attitude of the Supreme Court to the entrenched provision of the Rights to life:

In Aliu Bello V Attoney-General of Oyo State, the Oyo State Ministry of Justice sanctioned the execution of the appellant convicted of armed robbery but whose appeal was pending in the court of appeal. Aniagoli UJSC gave vent to his deep annoyance at such flagrant breach of the Constitutional Provision when he said (at pg 860).

“This is the first case in this country of which I am aware in which a legitimate Government of this country – past or present, Colonial or indigenous- hastily and illegally snuffed off the life of an appellant whose appeal had vested and was in being, with no order of court upon the appeal, and with a reckless disregard for the life and liberty of the subject and the principle of the rule of law. The brutal incident has bespattered the face of the Oyo State Government with the paint-brush  of shame”.

These are strong words, but they indicate the abhorrence which the Supreme Court has against the illegal taking of life of any person within our borders outside the provisions of the Constitution and outside the procedural rules laid down.

In the Governor of Lagos State V. Chief - Odumegwu Ojukwu & Anor. (1997) INWLR (pt 482) 429. The Supreme Court castigated  the executive Lawlessness displayed by the Military Administration and authority in ejecting the Respondent forcefully and unlawfully from his residence, it was a disrespect for the Rule of law which they (the  military ) claimed to be cornerstone of their administration. This made Oputa, JSC to observe as follows:

The rule of Law presupposes:

1.              That the state including Lagos State Government is subject to the Law.
2.             That the judiciary is a necessary agency of the rule of law.
3.             That the government including the Lagos State Government should respect the right of individual citizens under the rule of law.

“I can safely say that here in Nigeria even under military Government  the Law is no respecter of persons, principalities, government or powers and that courts stand between the citizens and government alert to see that the state or government is bound by the Law and respect the Law”.

Whilst Eso JSC, who wrote the erudite lead judgment in Ojukwu’s case stated about the rule of law in these terms. “The essence of rule of law is that it should never operate under the rule of force or fear, to use force to effect an act and while under the marshal of that force seek the court’s equity is an attempt to infuse timidity into court and a sabotage of the cherished rule of law. It must never be”.

Another case that demonstrates the court’s high regard for entrenched provision of the Constitution on the liberty of citizens is the case of Hon. Justice Nwachukwu. Nwachukwu was a High Court judge in Imo State. He was appointed Chairman of a commission of inquiry to look into certain contracts awarded by the government between 1979 and 1983. In the course of the proceedings of the commission Hon. Justice Nwa- Nwachukwu received a letter to which he took objection. Without making an investigation whatsoever he ordered the arrest of  one  Dickson Ikonne. There had been a long history of mutual animosity between the two men, which had nothing to do with the proceedings or the subject of the commission. Ikonne applied to a High Court to quash the warrant of arrest, which the court did.

Subsequently, Hon Justice Nwa-Nwachukwu obtained leave to appeal against the order of the judge Ikonne then appealed to the Supreme Court. Aniagolu JSC in Dickson Ikonne V Commissioner Of Police And Hon Nanna Nwa_Nwachukwu (1986) NWLR 473 at 496 said:

“it is clear from the facts of this matter on appeal that the judge, the Hon Justice Nnanna Nwa-Nwachukwu; had no valid legal reasons for issuing the warrant of arrest complained of in his appeal. The issue of the warrant of arrest was, in the circumstances of this matter on appeal, an abuse of legal process, an abuse of judicial authority, it is particularly painful that I should come to this conclusion concerning a judge of the High Court, but the conclusion is inevitable having regards to the facts and circumstances of this matter on appeal.

“The conduct of the judge in issuing the warrant of arrest upon what was obviously a fictitious reason, had the undesirable effect of derogating the judiciary in the eye of the public and eroding the confidence of people in judicial process and the rule of law”.

There is plethora of decided cases on the attitude of the court to individual rights or civil rights of individual entrenched in the 1999 constitution.


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January 21, 2018

An Appraisal to Right of Life: Limit to the exercise of Police powers



Constitutional locus of the Police
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 made the police force a Constitutional creation.
Under the 1999 constitution section 214 stipulated that

“there shall be a police force for Nigeria which shall be styled the Nigeria Police Force and subject to the provisions of this section, no other police force shall be established for the federation or any part thereof”.

The Nigeria Police is under the command of the Inspector-General of Police who is appointed by the President at his discretion.

Power of the Police


The Criminal Procedure and Criminal Procedure Code make provisions for circumstances, where the police may use force in the performance of their duties. In addition to the powers of arrest by police officers, as provided for under the Criminal Procedure Act, the Criminal Procedure Code the Police may use such force as is reasonably necessary to:

i.        Overcome any force used in resisting arrest.

ii.      Prevent the escape of an arrested person,
iii.    If arrested for a felony, may kill him if he cannot by any means otherwise be arrested.
iv.    Suppress a riot: (see the Criminal code section 276 – 278) Though the discretion is to use “reasonably force’, the elastic nature of this phrase amounts to an open cheque for police abuse. Obedience to higher command is clearly stipulated as a defense for police officers who use force to quell riots but not otherwise. The cumulative effect of these section is that “a Police Officer may use such force as a reason necessary to prevent the commission, whether in his presence or not, of any offence whatever.

The Right to Life and Derogation


The Right to Life asserts the sanctity of human life. The Nigeria Constitution by Section 33 provides:

“Every person has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.

Most Constitutions provide that the right to life may be derogated from where a sentence of death is imposed under due process of Law. This particular exception has been touted as being the justification for the imposition of death penalty in Nigeria.

Section 33(1) (2) (a) (b) and (c) of the constitution clearly defines situations where the Nigeria Police could use force and even kill in the process of trying to perform their official duty and they will not be liable but many atimes the police do extend the scope of their activities.

 

Police Excesses

Improper use of heated force obviously amounts to “brutality”. But brutality (Lethal Force) is not limited to situations of use of firearms. It could extend to “the deadly deployment of police batons, police belts, police boots, gun butt, even heavy-handed blows. Noxious substances such as “tear gas” may constitute a lethal force.

The constitutional and statutory duty of the Police includes:

v  The task of protecting life and property,
v  the apprehension of offenders,
v  the detection of crime,
v  the preservation of Law and order,
v  enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged
v  performance of such military duties within and without Nigeria as may be required of them, see section 4 of the Police Act
v  “the Nigeria Police is at the vanguard of protecting all the wealth that Nigeria and Nigerians have either individually  or collectively. The capacity of the police to effectively execute its functions is primarily hinged on the exercise of the power conferred on them. To enable the police officers to do their job well, they are vested by the state with a monopoly in the use of certain powers. These powers include the powers to arrest, search, seize, and interrogate prosecute and if necessary to use lethal force.

Police are employed by society to mention order by dealing largely with disorderly elements of the society. However, some police officers are overzealous and this is evident in instances of police brutality and human rights infringements. An example of a suspected case of police brutality was recorded in South Africa. Stephen Bantie Biko also known as Steve Biko (18 December, 1946 – 12 September, 1977) was a noted nonviolent anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960. He was a student at the University of Natal Medical School.

In the aftermath of the Soweto riots, police began to target Biko. On 18 August, 1977 he was arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967. He suffered a major head injury while in police custody and was chained to a window grille for a full day. On the 11the September, 1977 police pushed him into the back of a car and began the 740 km drive to Pretoria. He died shortly after the arrival in the Pretoria prison. Police claimed his death was the result of an extended hunger strike. He was found to have massive injuries to the head which many saw as strong evidence that he had been heavily and brutally clubbed.

The following year on the 2nd February, 1978, the Attorney-General of her Eastern Cape stated that he will not prosecute any police involved in the arrest and detention of Biko.

On Human right Infringements in Nigeria, there are allegation ranging from torture, cruel and inhuman treatments of persons in police custody or arrest  of  friends  and  relations of  suspects. One known instance worthy of mention is when the Nigeria Police used teargas on non-violent women staging a peaceful rally on 16th December 2005 in protest against poor air safety following a plane crash in which about 50 of the 106 people were killed.

INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUE


Although by section 34(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and other similar provision, a standard has been enacted for police investigation and techniques. But in Nigeria, allegation s strong that torture as a technique of investigation is common. In some cases investigation, is often preceded by several unlawful acts. In extreme cases the methods of torture employed may be i.e. beating with horse whip, handcuffing, chaining hands and feet, inserting pins and broom sticks into servitude area of the body, has once be reported  against the police, but it was denied.

EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLING


The concept of extra-judicial killing has come to be associated with all manner of unlawful killings by the police. However, the term is used here to mean deliberate and premeditated execution by the police or other government agents of suspects

SUMMARY EXECUTION OF SUSPECTS


A case that illustrates the nature of the practice of extra-judicial execution is the newspaper report of a notorious Oko-Oba killing. Sometimes in March 1991, the police was alleged to have arrested seven persons “on suspicion of armed robbery”. They were to return to the house of one of them ostensibly to recover evidence when at some point, the suspects were all send to be lined up and shot dead at close range. The police came up with a statement that they had only successfully eliminated a seven-man robbery gang who fired on them whilst resisting arrest.

In the Apo traders Saga, seven traders in Abuja in 2006 were killed by the police. The Federal Government set up a panel of enquiry headed by a judge to investigate the circumstances of the killing of the 7 Apo Traders by the police. The police officers was subsequently charge with murder of the traders.

REVENGE KIILING


Police have also been accused of employing wanton and rampaging techniques in attempt avenge the deaths of their comrades. An accident which was reported in Patani, Delta State in February 1994 is a picture of revenge killing. A police sergeant was killed by some robbers on 14th February, 1994. The next day, police went into the town, randomly arrested 7 youths of the town, lined them up and executed them. The police on their part announced on Delta Radio, Warri that
they had engaged some robbers in an exchange of gunfire during which seven members of the gang got killed.

POLICE CHECKPOINT KILLINGS


The ostensible purpose of roadblocks is to facilitate security checks so  as to assist police to arrest car thieves, armed robbers, drug carrier and other criminal suspects. It is also meant to assist in recovering arms and ammunitions. These policemen carry arms some times in a threatening posture. Unfortunately a number of innocent citizens have met their untimely death at the checkpoints. Example is the killing of Dele Udoh,
a Nigeria athlete based in the United State in 1981 at a checkpoint also the killing in 1992 of Colonel Israel Ringim at a checkpoint nearly led to a confrontation between the police and the army. On this occasion, the Federal government disbanded all check throughout the Federation.

CROWD CONTROL SITUATIONS


The crowd-control situations which may attract police intervention include students protest demonstrations, or political agitations. One of the notable incidents of police high handedness is the control of students protest. Example is the University of Ibadan, when, during a protest in 1977, one Kunle Adepeju was felled by police bullet. In 1981 at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) eight students were killed. At Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in 1986, four students were shot dead by the police. Also at the Lagos State University (LASU) in 1992, a first year student of biochemistry was killed by the police during a demonstration.

Killing is the ultimate brutal act in dealing with students protest. The Abisoye panel set up in 1986 recommended that police should not use live bullets in quelling students protest; but rather, that rubbers bullets should be introduced which would stall demonstrators but not to kill them. The government accepted the recommendation. The panel also recommended that mobile policemen should, never be drafted to institutions to quell protest. The government promised to examine this recommendation forms. The police are also called upon to quell political demonstrations; the same brutal tactics used for students is adopted. (Mass arrest, torture examples are the Bakolorin riot, Sokoto in 1980 and the Ogoni people Rivers state.


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