By S. Long Williams Esq. Governor, EBF
Absurd events are unfolding with great and ferocious rapidity in the geographical space called Nigeria in geometric proportions. It takes one with the same proportion to be abreast with events and drama in Nigeria.
A few minutes of absence from the news and one will be drowned in an avalanche of macabre absurdities. Ferris Bueller once said “life moves very fast, if you don’t stop once in a while to look around, you could miss it”
While we are still sourcing for a compass to navigate out of one of such dramatic absurdities as regards the illegal, unilateral and demonic amendment of the Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers by the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami SAN, we were soon inundated with news of the promulgation by the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma of the Imo State Administration of Criminal Justice Law No. 2 of 2020.
Section 484 of the Imo ACJL reads:
“Where any person is ordered to be detained during the Governor’s pleasure he shall notwithstanding anything in this Law or in any other written law contained be liable to be detained in such place and under such conditions as the Governor may direct and whilst so detained shall be deemed to be in legal custody”.
Section 485(1) A detainee may only be discharged if granted license by the Governor.
(2) A license under subsection (1) of this section may be in such form and may contain such conditions as the Governor may direct.
(3) A license under this section may at anytime be revoked or varied by the Governor and where license has been revoked the person to whom the license relates shall proceed to such place as the Governor may direct and if he fails to do so, maybe arrested without warrant and taken to such place.
The salient areas to note in the above provisions are as follows;
1. Anyone can be detained at the pleasure of the Governor.
2. The provision is not subservient and is superior to any other law including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
3. Anyone can be detained at any place or anywhere be it a pit, dungeon, concentration camp or any other place not necessarily a Correctional Centre.
4. Anyone can be detained under any dehumanizing condition.
5. That such detention is legal.
6. A detainee may only be discharged at the license of the Governor
7. There is no time frame or limit to the period of detention.
8. That licence may be granted on the conditions to be set out by the Governor.
9. The conditions may be varied or revoked at anytime at the pleasure of the Governor and the detainee rearrested and further destined.
When I first went through the provisions of the said law, what first swept my consciousness was Auschwitz.
Auschwitz, also known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, opened in 1940 and was the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. Located in southern Poland, Auschwitz initially served as a detention center for political prisoners. However, it evolved into a network of camps where Jewish people and other perceived enemies of the Nazi state were exterminated, often in gas chambers, or used as slave labor. Some prisoners were also subjected to barbaric medical experiments led by Josef Mengele (1911-79). During World War II (1939-45), more than 1 million people, by some accounts, lost their lives at Auschwitz. In January 1945, with the Soviet army approaching, Nazi officials ordered the camp abandoned and sent an estimated 60,000 prisoners on a forced march to other locations. When the Soviets entered Auschwitz, they found thousands of emaciated detainees and piles of corpses left behind.
Is Senator Hope Uzodinma, the Governor of Imo State about to take us back to Auschwitz? How do we juxtapose this law with Section 35 and 36 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and the supremacy of the said constitution as provided in Section 1(1).
Section 1(1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended states as follows ” This constitution is supreme and its provision shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria ”
Can it therefore be said that the provisions of Section 484 of the IMO State ACJL No. 2, 2020 supersede the provision of Section 1(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The answer is definitely in the NEGATIVE and the said law is illegal, null avoid and of no effect whatsoever.
Besides offending the supremacy of the constitution, the said Imo State Law contravenes the clear and extant provisions of Section 35 & 36 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and therefore illegal, null and void to the extent of its inconsistency.
My friend, the indefatigable Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Aba Branch Bertram Faotu Esq. has opined that there is nothing new about the Imo State law, that the said law exist as a Federal legislation in Section 401 of the Criminal Procedure Law which in itself gives directions in Sections 230, 235, 328 & 368 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Ditto for my Political Chairman J.S. Okutepa SAN. The question that agitates me with the argument of my learned chairmen in this present circumstance are as follows:
1. Why did Section 484 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law No. 2 of 2020, Imo State not make any directions to any other section or law dealing with persons found guilty who are suffering from insanity, persons that do not understand the proceedings or persons under the age of 17 or 18 as in the provisions in the Criminal Procedure Law.
2. Why is Section 484 ACJL Imo State standing on its own? Does that not raise a red flag as to the intendment of the law makers. Aristotle in his book, De Interpretatione noted thus” written words are the signs of words spoken and words spoken are symbols and signs of affection or impressions of the soul”. Also Jerry Foder in his book, Language of Thoughts wrote ” spoken and written language derive intentionality and meaning from an internal language encoded in the mind”
From the above, l state without any equivocation that the written words as contained in Sections 484 & 485 of the Imo State ACJL 2020 are signs of affection/ impressions of the soul and represent the internal language encoded in the mind of the law giver.
3. Also why were these sections smuggled into the law as alleged by Hon. Frank Ugboma, the Deputy Minority Leader of the Imo State House of Assembly who is the sponsor of the bill. How did a bill of 372 sections metamorphose to 485 sections and beyond without the knowledge of the law makers whose duty and primary responsibility is to make laws for the good people of Imo State?
One thing that is also curious about the said Imo State law is that it is the only domesticated Administration of Criminal Justice Law in Nigeria that contains the said provisions. The question that will agitate any discerning mind is why Imo State? We are all aware that the Imo State Government, especially the Governor, has been particularly restless over criticism trailing his administration and the usual and popular reference to him as “Supreme Court Governor” Has the Governor prepared to deal ruthlessly with his opponents real and imaginary as that explains the sole purpose of this provision.
We must not allow the Governor to be the accuser, judge and executioner at the same time or else we shall soon find ourselves in Auschwitz.
Wriiten by By S. Long Williams Esq. Governor, EBF
