Jungle Justice in the Nigeria Legal System
Of several unsatisfactory and illegal means of resolving disputes, jungle Justice - otherwise known as mob justice or street justice - could not escape such. There have been, in each given society, a several methods and dimensions in which adjudication is exercised on a given specific matter or issue. Some of these methods enjoy legal backing, and while others were rendered illegal. See The Nigeria Legal System by Ese Malemi, pg 268.
Justice is being defined as, according to Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_justice), the process or result of using law to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals. In buttress, the learned Oputa, JSC, in Josiah v The State (1985) 1 NWLR reiterated in his dictum where he said: "And justice is not a one-way traffic... It is really a three-way traffic: justice for the appellant/accused of a heinous crime of murder; justice for the victim, the murdered man, the deceased - whose blood is crying to heaven for vengeance; and, finally justice for the society at large - the society whose social norms and values had been desecrated and broken by the criminal act complained of . . ."
In addendum, Thomas Acquinas held that, justice denotes a sustained or constant willingness to extend to each person what he or she deserves (see: ST IIaIIae 58.1).
The term, jungle justice, could also be said to be a form or path paved for anarchy to reign. Anarchy is simply the state of lawlessness as opposed to an orderly recognized and constitutional society. It is a form of self-help, and of course, an extrajudicial form of justice, where an alleged criminal (also known as suspect) is humiliated, beaten or executed by a crowd or vigilantes. It is, indeed, a form of illegal and unconstitutional form of justice which regards not the involvement of the police or other law enforcement agencies. No due process of law is followed; it is rather characterized with taking law into one's hand. And thus, it becomes an unarguable fact that, jungle justice is illegal and therefore, breaches many provisions of the constitution (as amended), Administration of Criminal and Justice Act (2015), Criminal Procedure Act (2004) and some other statutory provisions.
However, the same section 33(1) of the Nigeria 1999 constitution (as amended) that states the exception to right to life as a fundamental human right entrenched therein, specifically and outrightly gives that sole right (to carry out such proceedings and conviction of the person) to a court of law. The provision states thus: "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."
In the same vein, section 36 (4, 5 and 6) of the Constitution also makes an emphasize on the procedures and due process to take regarding conviction of a suspect. In the apple eye of the law, every person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until proved guilty with the offence by a competent court of law. In essence, anything outside the provisions of the said section of the constitution is tantamount to infringement upon freedom to fear hearing as enshrined in the constitution.
Similarly, section 8 (1 and 3) of Administration of Criminals and Justice Act (2015) gives mob justice no room, and thus, prohibits jungle justice. And by implication, any person caught or arrested participating or engaging in mob justice may face relevant criminal charges. Subsection 1 and 3 of the section provide thus:
Section 8(1):
"A suspect shall:
(a) be accorded humane treatment, having regard to his right to dignity of his person; also,
(b) not be subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".
Section 8(3):
“A suspect shall be brought before the court or otherwise released conditionally or unconditionally".
And in affirmation and support to the above statutory provisions, here is a Supreme court decided case of Kalu v. State (1998). There in, Anthony Ikechukwu Iguh JSC in his dictum mentioned that:
"...for a valid and proper arraignment of an accused person, the following three conditions must be satisfied namely:-
(i) The accused person must be placed before the court unfettered unless the court shall see cause otherwise to order;
(ii) The charge of information shall be read over and explained to him to the satisfaction of the court by the Registrar or other officer of the court; and
(iii) The accused shall then be called upon to plead instantly thereto (unless, of course, there exists any valid reason to do otherwise such as objection to want of service where the accused is entitled by law to service of a copy of the information and the court is satisfied that he has infact not been duly served therewith)..."
Moreover, and for purpose of making an emphasis, the learned Justice firmly added that, the three requirements as to the arraignment of a suspect must co-exist. Otherwise, such a See also: section 215 of Criminal Procedure Act (2004).
For every problem, there is a cause or causes; and for every cause, there exist approachable solutions. Jungle justice, with no doubt, has contributed negatively to the sustenance of our state. And without hesitation, any form of extrajudicial act should be obliterated and infact, advocated against by the general public. Although, there are a number of causes and reasons behind the masses taking law into their hands. A few, but cogent of them are discussed below:
1. Dysfunctional Judicial System: Justice delay is justice denied. Truly speaking, our judicial system is one characterized with slowness in dispensation of justice. And of the essential tools employable in tackling against jungle justice is a faster dispensation of justice. There should not be any unduly delay in criminal trials or proceedings. And also, any person caught should be made to face the law and punishment stipulated for it.
2. Loss of credibility of law enforcement agency: Section 4 of the Police Act (2004) empowers the police as the only agency recognized and certified by law to apprehend and prosecute a suspect. Unfortunately, the Nigeria Police Force saddled with such a responsibility have bad images in the eye of the public. The agency, police force, is seen as one of crime supporters and abettors. In essence, the NPF should be restructured and in fact, rehabilitated.
3. Ignorance: This point hammers on the level of illiteracy of the citizens. Most of the citizens are ignorant of what the law says on mob justice and its consequences. Therefore, governmental and non-governmental organizations should take as mandate: reorientation and enlightenment of the populace regarding respect for the rule of law and fundamental human right (right to life and fear hearing).
Mob justice is indeed a disregad to the rule of law - the law of the land. It is a contravention against the fundamental human rights as provided for in our constitution. It is a sign of weaknesses of our judicial system; thus, empowering the agrieved citizens taking laws into their hands. It is pertinent to state unequivocally here that, various extrajudicial methods of punishing suspects employed have not, in a way or the other, contribute towards the reduction of crimes rate in the country. The illegal system rather contributes to human rights abuse: punishing, harming and killing guilty mind.
Moreover, the jurisdiction of a court of law to entertain criminal cases is being challenged. The court is expected to serve as a place where justice is administered in an oderly and constitutional countries like Nigeria. However, the prevalent forms of self-help employed by various agrieved citizens is a clarion call that, it is time for the restructuring of our judicial system of Justice and the police agency so as to curb the menace(s) extrajudicial form of justice has brought to our land. And finally, our government should also come to the rescue of the country from its lawless state.
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