Latest Headlines
Disadvantages of Judicial Silence and Government’s Double Standard
The Advocate
By Onikepo Braithwaite
Onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com
When Silence is No Longer Golden
Last week, a Senior Advocate sent me a Statement issued by the High Court of Justice of Osun State dated 20/12/24, in which the Chief Registrar of the Court, F.I. Omisade (CR) was constrained to clarify the facts of the Chicken case I discussed last week, that is, the conviction and sentence to death of Segun Olowookere and Sunday Morakinyo for armed robbery, instead of the social media story that was circulated that they were convicted for the petty theft of a chicken! This is unprecedented, as the Judiciary is usually silent because they must maintain their dignity. However, it appears that silence is no longer golden, because if the Judiciary always remains quiet, it will be dragged to these lowest level of disrepute by mischief makers.
One Judicial Officer told me about the style he adopted in delivering a judgement, in a case in which one of the litigants had been so popular that he always attended court with his supporters. When the judgement was delivered, His Lordship had written a sound judgement which didn’t favour the “Popular Jingo”, and he then took time to summarise the judgement and explain how the Counsel to the Popular Jingo had not only filed a futile case and misapplied the law, but made so many errors, even in the court processes filed. Needless to say, the Counsel was almost lynched by the Popular Jingo’s supporters, after the judgement was read, and the reasoning behind it understood by all!
If the Judge hadn’t summarised the judgement thus, the Popular Jingo’s Counsel and supporters may have proceeded to go about and misinform the public that the Judge had taken bribe from the other side. Maybe the style His Lordship adopted in his judgement, should be the new style adopted by judicial officers – beyond writing the judgement in ‘Legalese’, a summary of the decision should also made in layman’s terms, particularly for the benefit of those who have a penchant for misleading the public about the outcome of cases, with a view to instigating the people against the Judiciary.
The CR also stated that Segun was 19 at the time the crime was committed, while Sunday was 18, in which case the issues that I raised about the prosecution of child offenders in the Child’s Rights Act 2003 and Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 are not applicable in this case.
We must always be mindful of the fact that, in litigation, there are no two winners – it’s a case of winner and loser. If one is looking for a more conciliatory type of dispute resolution, then arbitration, conciliation and mediation are better options, where it’s not always a case of victor and vanquished.
That said, several countries are experiencing their public’s loss of confidence in their Judiciary, even USA; but, not because of omnibus grounds or rumours, but for specific reasons. For instance, in US, the most recent public’s loss of confidence in the Supreme Court and the significant drop in its ratings, stems from the decision that reversed Roe v Wade 410 U.S, 113 (1973) and declared that that the US Constitution doesn’t confer a right to abortion. Some are also upset with the Judiciary, because of the decisions in the cases against President-Elect Trump.
The CR however, mentioned an important fact in the statement – that it is the hallowed principle in law that justice is for the accused, the victim of the crime and the society at large. Sadly, this hallowed principle isn’t always followed. I said it recently, and I repeat it again, in Nigeria, justice, not limited to justice from the courts, may sometimes depend on who the accused person is. For one, where the accused is the Government and its agencies, they are never held accountable or brought to book for misdeeds, and when the people/society get the short end of the stick as a result of Government’s actions, the people never get justice.
Government’s Double Standard
Government Errors
Job Applicants: In 2014, when the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) had a job recruitment exercise and organised an aptitude test for Applicants nationwide in that regard, there were stampedes in various parts of the country and several people died (18 or so). Seven people died in Abuja, three in Niger (in Minna, the security agencies fired teargas at the Applicants, and that led to the death of the three Applicants), five in Rivers, and many others collapsed and/or were injured during the nationwide exercise. In Port Harcourt, 22,000 Applicants were expected, about 35,000 were said to have showed up. There were stampedes, even to enter the various stadiums where the tests were conducted. No big deal was made about whether NCS adequately prepared for the nationwide interviews, which ended up in multiple deaths and injuries; and no one, neither in NCS or the security agencies that fired tear gas, was held responsible for the unfortunate incidents.
QC: In 2017, when an epidemic arose due to the deliberate acts of the then Principal of Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos (QC) (my Alma Mata), Dr Lami Amodu and her team, in which many students became violently sick due to the unhygienic and inhumane conditions that the students were subjected to in the school, providing the students with contaminated water that resembled water in a sewer, the students were also not given adequate medical attention when fell sick from consuming same. Three students, Praise Sodipo, Vivian Osuinyi and Bithia Itulua died as a result of the epidemic; the School also tried to gag the Parents and students with threats, to stop them from going public about what was going on.
QC owed a duty of care to the students who were placed in their custody, and their actions amounted to at least three counts of Involuntary Manslaughter contrary Section 224(a) & (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State (2015)(CLLS) punishable upon conviction with life imprisonment (see Section 229 of the CLLS), grievous harm, wounding and similar acts, reckless and negligent acts causing harm, contrary to Sections 245, 246 and 252 of the CLLS respectively, prescribing punishments of two to seven years imprisonment upon conviction. In short, what occurred in QC was a very serious matter. Unfortunately, not only did the Senate hearing on this matter amount to nothing, Dr Amodu was simply transferred to another school in the North to resume as Principal, and neither she nor her staff/cohorts were prosecuted. The matter appeared to end there.
Armed Forces: In 2017, when the Air Force mistakenly dropped three bombs on an IDP Camp located 200m away from their Military Camp in Kalabalge, Rann Town, Borno State (the Kalabalge Tragedy), 100 innocent people were killed. The Air Force had allegedly mistaken the Camp located almost next door to a Miltary Camp that should have been well known to them, as a Boko Haram hideout! Criminal negligence of the highest order, amongst other wrongdoings. No one was held responsible, for such a serious mistake. The Probe launched by the House of Representatives, yielded no tangible results. And, when on December 3, 2023, the Army using drones, mistakenly bombed innocent civilians in Tudun Biri, Kaduna State and over 80 people, including the elderly and children were killed, and about 71 were hospitalised, late Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Taoreed Lagbaja took responsibility for this mistake and tendered an unreserved public apology. However, beyond that, I don’t recall that anything came out of it. Last week, on Christmas Day, again, 10 innocent people were mistakenly killed, allegedly as a result of a military air strike which the Army said caused secondary explosions that killed the 10 persons in Sokoto State, while trying to neutralise the Lakurawa terrorists, whom the Army claimed were roasted beyond recognition.
If not Involuntary Manslaughter, Section 192 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law 2017 (as amended) (KPL) – the offence of culpable homicide not punishable with death – may have covered the Kalabalge, Tudun Biri and Sokoto incidents, that is, cases in which the killing is premeditated, but unintended victims are killed instead, the death caused by the perpetrator will be the same as if it was the people originally intended that were killed. However, the defence in this instance, would be that the though the killing was premeditated and hit innocent people, it was for a lawful purpose – to kill terrorists.
We can also look at Criminal Negligence (reckless and negligent acts causing harm) and the Tort of Negligence, for the aforementioned incidents. In I.M.N.L v Nwachukwu 13 N.W.L.R. Part 891 Page 543 at 560 per Dahiru Musdapher, JSC, the Supreme Court held that “Negligence is a breach of duty to take care. A duty to take care can be imposed by law or can be created by contract or trust”. While Nigerians remain appreciative of the efforts of the Armed Forces to protect us, they still owe the public a duty of care while carrying out their activities. In all the aforementioned government mistake cases I have cited, Nigerians are not aware that anyone faced any criminal charges, nor were we informed that any damages were paid by NCS or the Air Force or Army to any of the families who lost their loved ones in these unfortunate incidents.
Private Errors
Last week, we had three incidents of stampedes in which people, including children, died – Ibadan (35), Okija (22) and Abuja (10) while scrambling to collect Christmas gifts/groceries/palliatives. The Nigerian State has, over the years, failed, and Nigerians have now reached the point of abject poverty and hunger (Poverty Capital of the World since 2018, Nigeria has moved up a notch or two to third in 2024), and in order to assuage their misery, the Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja, the estranged wife of the Ooni of Ife, Olori Naomi Silekunola and the Obi Jackson Foundation in Okija, Anambra State, decided to distribute goodies to the needy. One cannot ignore the fact that, many Nigerians appear to have the mentality that if they don’t rush for things, they won’t get, and therefore, it would be likely that there would be a rush for the distribution of any kind of palliatives to the people, particularly in this period of ‘ebin pa wa’ (we are hungry), and adequate arrangements should therefore, always be made in such circumstances to ensure orderly distribution.
Unlike the government officials and the military, the Catholic Priest, Olori Naomi and seven others, were arrested immediately. Olori Naomi has been charged along with the Principal of the School that was the venue of her charity event, and the owner of a radio station (who may have been a media partner that advertised the event), for Conspiracy, Murder, Negligence leading to harm and Failure to provide adequate safety and medical care. The first two counts appear not to be viable, as the conspiracy to commit murder or the intention to murder (mens rea) are glaringly absent, in the case of the private error incidents I have mentioned. The conspiracy was to give succour/palliatives to the needy, and the intention, to make children happy at Christmas and also feed the hungry.
Favouritism and Discrimination
Whether Government or Private, in all the examples I have cited, the agencies or organisers planned the events for good reasons – the NCS to provide employment, the Armed Forces to protect Nigerians, and the Privates, to provide succour to hungry/needy Nigerians. However, Government faced no consequences when things went awry, while the Privates are in trouble. What is good for the goose, doesn’t seem to be good for the gander when it comes to Government and Privates. See Sections 1(1) & 42 of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) on the bindingness of the Constitution on all, including government and its agencies, and the guarantee against discrimination.
While I do express my deepest condolences to all those who lost their loved ones in these unfortunate incidents, I’m not certain that it is only the organisers of the private events that may be faulted; those who decided to rush/struggle instead of queuing up for gifts/palliatives, and the Government that has made Nigerians so desperate, are also culpable for the unfortunate outcomes. My dear Readers, kindly, share your opinions with me, as to whether you think that those involved in these private errors should be forgiven or prosecuted. Many depend heavily on these acts of charity, and wielding this big stick on private persons may deter others from charity work for fear of punishment in case anything goes wrong even when adequate care is taken. If so-called repentant Boko Haram insurgents and Bandits can be forgiven after intentionally committing heinous crimes, why not a Catholic Priest and people who wanted to do good for the people? Furthermore, should people be prosecuted when there are no clear guidelines as to how such events should be organised, and therefore, they cannot be said to have intentionally breached properly set out rules governing such events?
Going forward, there must be guidelines laid out specifically for Charity events, particularly those where palliatives are to be distributed, so that such regrettable outcomes never occur again, including the deployment of law enforcement agencies for crowd control purposes. Nigerians have a penchant for rushing/struggling for things – whether it is to get on the bus, or to collect registration forms for anything. For instance, we heard that people threw their children over the School fence in Ibadan, in order to secure spots at Olori Naomi’s event. Should the event have therefore, been held at the Agodi Prison, where perhaps, the walls are too high for anyone throw anything over?
As for the Police who made statements that they should have been called to be present at the venues where the Private errors occurred to prevent the unfortunate deaths and injuries, since when has Police presence become the complete tonic for safety? In the Niger NCS incident, it was the teargas fired by law enforcement that was said to be responsible for the Applicants’ deaths. Were the Police not around when the Army opened fire on unarmed Youths at Lekki Tollgate, during the #EndSARS Protest in 2020? Lest we forget, #EndSARS was an event organised by the Youths, to protest against Police brutality!
P.S.
This our last edition of 2024, has fallen on the last day of the year. We thank you, our Readers, for your support, and we wish you a happy and prosperous 2025 and beyond. Amen. See you in 2025 by God’s Grace.
Best Regards, The Advocate!