The House of Representatives is considering a constitutional amendment bill seeking to prohibit the public parade of suspects by the police and other law enforcement agencies.
This follows the widespread condemnation the practice has witnessed from human rights groups, the judiciary and civil society organisations in the country for decades.
The proposal, which forms part of the recommendations adopted by the House Committee on Constitution Review chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, is expected to be debated when the National Assembly resumes from the Christmas and New Year recess.
At the centre of the bill is a proposed alteration to Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which guarantees the right to dignity of the human person.
The existing provision states, “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and accordingly— (a) no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment; (b) no person shall be held in slavery or servitude.”
The proposed amendment seeks to expand and clarify what constitutes torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. A new subsection is to be inserted to explicitly outlaw the public parade of arrested persons.
The new provision reads, “For the purpose of Sub-section (1), torture, inhuman or degrading treatment includes parading persons arrested by the police or any other law enforcement agency in the public.”
For years, the public display of suspects—often labelled as criminals before trial—has been a common feature of police operations across the country.
Individuals arrested for various offences are routinely lined up before journalists, photographed, and sometimes forced to reenact alleged crimes, even though investigations and court proceedings have not commenced.
Rights advocates have long argued that the practice violates the constitutional presumption of innocence and subjects suspects to humiliation, stigma and psychological trauma.
Several court decisions have also frowned on the practice, with judges holding that the parade of suspects amounts to a violation of fundamental rights and an abuse of power by law enforcement agencies.
Despite the rulings, the practice has persisted, prompting renewed calls for stronger constitutional and legal safeguards.
Reacting to the proposed amendment, pro-democracy advocate and founder of Women Arise, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, commended the House for taking steps to align Nigeria’s constitutional framework with international human rights standards.
She said, “There is an existing absolute ban on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of persons, which undermines personal dignity under International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law.
