By Prof B. Chima Onuoha
Nationally and globally, the functions of law enforcement are: the prevention and detection of crime; the apprehension and prosecution of offenders; the preservation of law and order; and the protection of life and property. Of greatest importance is the fact that no offender is allowed to go free, hence the axiom, “the long arm of the law.” In other words, there is great need that law enforcement is not selective and there should not be sacred cows, no matter how highly placed or favoured tribe. The major law enforcement agencies in Nigeria are: Nigeria Police (NP); Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS); Nigeria Custom Service (NCS); Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); State Security Service (SSS), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
No society develops or would her citizens enjoy peaceful or stress free life style without the effective roles of ethical, professionalized, well-trained and highly motivated law enforcement agencies/personnel and the judiciary. The following countries – Switzerland, Singapore, Iceland, Japan and Luxembourg, that have the lowest crime rates are also having idle prison facilities and have no need to continue to invest on law enforcement programmes or projects. Their citizens do not have any motivation for crime with their high per capita income. There is a singular factor that makes people to be wary of committing crimes in the advanced nations. That is, no matter the number of years, once you commit any crime, the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with you.
But here in Nigeria, the government keeps investing heavily in law enforcement infrastructures. New correctional centres and courts are being built and old ones are being expanded. All correctional centres are filled to the bream. There are long delays in adjudication of cases. It is often said that justice to long delayed is justice denied (Martin Luther King Jr., 1963). Poor governance, high unemployment rate, open display of ill-gotten wealth (meaning wealth without enterprise), warped value system, “blow mentality” amongst the youths, and poverty are the main reasons why we have very high crime rates.
The Nurembera trials, via The Nuremberg International Tribunal, were able to punish culprits of the Holocaust. All the prominent members of the political, military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany were prosecuted. Before these trials, the ring leaders – Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels committed suicide. Many of the perpetrators that escaped initial trials, migrated to other nations, changed their facial/physical structure via plastic surgeries, were still either apprehended and tried, or were killed by Israeli Secret Service.
Another illustration is the case of drug barons in Latin America, particularly Colombia. They were so rich and for many years and decades, they were running parallel governments, so to say or literarily. They were dangerous, ruthless and immensely powerful. Hundreds of government officials, policemen, coast guards, judges, civilians that refused to collect bribes from the barons were assassinated. Eventually, the long arm of the law caught up with them. Those notable drug barons were Pablo Escobar (late), Griselda Blanco (late), Jase Santacruz Londono (late), Daniel Berrera Berrera known as “El Loco” (in prison), Gilberto Rodriquez Orejuela (in prison), Jorge Alberto Rodriquez (in prison), Jose Evaristo Linares – Castillo (in prison), Henry de Jesus Lopez – also known as “My Blood” (in prison), etc.
I can go on and on with many other cases to illustrate how effective, ethical, patriotic and altruistic law enforcement agents/organizations are in other countries. Space will not permit that.
Down here in Nigeria, the scenario is completely different. Criminals are known to have entirely gone home free, lived full life and die. Some legitimised their crimes by going into politics or religious programmes or even becoming religious leaders. Others became traditional rulers. Some even use politics or religion as a décor or smokescreen to continue their crimes. This country had witnessed high profile murder cases (Bola Ige, Harry Marshal, Alfred Rewane, Kudirat Abiola, etc.) up till now, nobody has been arrested, not to talk of being tried and punished according to law.
I really don’t know what to say about some Nigerian lawyers. Must everything be money? Are there no ethical limits? Don’t they owe the society some responsibility? Must one take every brief no matter how self-serving or stupid or with unpleasant consequences on the society? It is on record that the fight against corruption in this country is being frustrated by greedy lawyers, some very senior ones and judges. The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) has the enormous duty to fish out corrupt judges and remove them from the judiciary. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should do same for some of their obviously mercantilist members.
I will proceed in this direction by highlighting the views of some illustrious Nigerians on compromised law enforcement and judiciary. Ojo (1995:12) is of the opinion that the judiciary is “a mere adjunct of the executive and a toothless bull-dog incapable of vindicating the rights of its citizens and commanding public confidence and respect.” For Lade Bonuola (1995) “it appears that the citizen is not protected by law, but by force, not fortified by the power of reason and logic, but by militarism.” For Olatunji Dare (1995) “when people contemplate the courts, they see sophistry, perjury, timidity and great susceptibility to unwholesome influences panoplies in ermined robes; they see decency and justice being mocked openly. They see the judiciary not as the last refuge of the common men, but as a collaborator with his tormentors. They see the government flout its own laws and what is left of the authority of the courts. From all this, they conclude that justice is unattainable except through self-help; that citizens have no rights that the government enforce, and that, in the schemes of things, the individual is but helpless subject of the capricious state.” It is that bad.
A legal luminary Wole Olanipekun (2017:5) was of the view that a good number of judiciary officials – registrars, court clerks, bailiffs, sheriffs, personal assistants, etc. are miscreants, saboteurs, rogues, infidels, criminals, touts, and delinquents. According to him, “a judge does not know whether any of his aides, registrars or lawyers has been using his name, title and office to collect bribes purportedly meant for him from litigants.”
In a report of the survey carried out in 2017 by Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, SAN, my former colleague at the then Imo State University, Okigwe (now Abia State University Uturu), listed the following as the five major ethical issues confronting the legal profession: (1) Bribery of judges (2) Delay tactics in court/using litigation as an instrument of delay/delayed trials/filing frivolous applications to delay trials or execution or proceedings (3) Bribery of court personnel for processes (4) Lawyers’ active role in disobeying court orders/blocking enforcement of orders and judgments (5) Rudeness to older colleagues/impolite attitude.
It has been observed recently that a good number of judges are no longer courageous. It is either they have been compromised, blackmailed or their lives and those of their family members being threatened by powerful forces out there. Some even run away or shy away from certain high profile (political and criminal) cases. This is not good for the growth and development of democracy. The citizens are the eventual losers of a weak judiciary.
Nigerians owe themselves the responsibility of holding their leaders accountable in all spheres of their national life. This means that all the leaders in all the sectors and sub-sectors of the nation must hence forth be ready to answer for their actions. The docility of Nigerians over poor governance has long been documented. This must change. The starting point should be effective law enforcement. There should be zero tolerance for incompetence.
In conclusion, it is important to link up effective law enforcement to democratic tenets, egalitarianism, and good governance. The benefits and dividends of democracy cannot get to Nigerians without ensuring that there is no selective enforcement of law and sacred cows. No nation can achieve greatness with weak, disjointed, disarticulated, demotivated, poorly trained and corrupt law enforcement agencies/agents. The emphasis should be building strong institutions, as opposed to strong individuals. While institutions are enduring, if not tending towards perpetuity, all individuals are mortals.
Professor Onuoha wrote from University of Port Harcourt.
