CITIZENSHIP UNDER NIGERIAN LAW

CITIZENSHIP UNDER NIGERIAN LAW

 A Citizen as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is a person who has full rights in a country. A citizen could also be a person who is recognised by a country as being her citizen because such person possesses some chracteristics (e.g. To be born in that country) which entitles him or her to some rights in that country. Under the Nigerian 1999 constitution, one may be a citizen either by birth, registration or by naturalisation  ( see Section 25 – 32 of 1999 Constitution). 
 
Citizenship by birth.

 A citizen by birth in Nigeria is a person who was born in Nigeria before or after independence and whose parents or grandparents belonged to a community indigenous to Nigeria or any person born outside Nigeria either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria.
Citizenship by Registration. 
The President may register any person as a citizen of Nigeria if he is satisfied that such person is of good character; he has shown a clear intention to be domiciled in Nigeria and has taken the Oath of Allegiance. Such persons are usually women who are married to Nigerians or people born outside Nigeria who are of full age capacity and either of  whose grandparents are Nigerians.   
Citizenship by Naturalization.
 Any person may also apply to the President of Nigeria to be granted a certificate of naturalisation. However such person must satisfy the following conditions:
–  He must be a person of full age and capacity;
– He is a person of good character;
– He has shown a clear intention to be domiciled in Nigeria;
– He is in the opinion of the Governor where he plans to reside to be acceptable to the local community as has assimilated the way of life of Nigerians;
– He has made or is capable of making contributions to the advancement; progress and well – being of Nigeria;
– He has taken the Oath of Allegiance;
– He has resided in Nigeria for a period of fifteen (15) year;
– He has resided in Nigeria for a period of 12 months and preceding that has stayed in Nigeria for periods amounting in aggregate to not less than fifteen years.   
Persons who are citizens by registration or by naturalization may forfeit their Nigerian citizenship if he retains or acquires the citizenship of another country where he is not a citizen by birth and any person who is of full age capacity may renounce his Nigerian citizenship by declaration and the President shall cause the declaration to be registered. Such declaration will however not be accepted if made during any war in which Nigeria is physically involved or is contraty to public policy in the opinion of the President. 
Any citizen of Nigeria by registration or naturalization may be deprived of his citizenship if within 7 years after becoming a citizen such person is sentenced to imprisonment of not less than 3 years or if he has conducted himself in ways that shows disloyalty towards the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 
 
By: Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.       
@adedunmade
dunmadeo@yahoo.com
SEARCH WARRANTS: Rights of Police Officers

SEARCH WARRANTS: Rights of Police Officers

 How a Search warrant works.   What do you do when a policeman walks up to you and demands that you empty your pockets or stops you at a check point and demands to search your vehicle or maybe even your house? At such times, i have always yielded to their demands and i am sure you have too.

But do policeman really have the authority to search a person at will? Let’s find out from the following parahraphs. 

 
A search is an examination of a person’s body, vehicle, house, premises, aircraft or any other vessel, with a view to discovering contraband, illicit or stolen property, or some evidence of guilt to be used in the prosecution of a criminal action for some other crime or offence with which he is charged. A search may be that of a person’s body or may be by way of a medical examination of the body of a person suspected of having committeda crime, for instance, a DNA sample taken and examined by a qualified medical examiner.  

The Nigerian Police do have the authority by virtue of the Police Act to search persons and premises.  In the course of executing a search warrant, the law states that a woman can only be searched by another woman, it is prohibited by law for a man to search the body of a woman though no rule states that a woman  cannot search a man.  When searching premises, the search must be conducted in the presence of two respectable inhabitants of the neighborhood summoned by the person to whom the search warrant is addressed. It is lawful for a policeman to detain and search any person whom he reasonably suspects of having in his possession any stolen item.

It is mandatoty that before a search warrant is executed, the warrant must be shown to the person to whom it is addressed and items found during a search are liable to be seized by the police. It should be noted that according to Nigerian law, any item illegally obtained by the police may still be admiitted in court as evidence. A search is obviously from the above stated paragraphs very critical to a police investigation as it aids the Police in gathering intelligence which will help resolve the crime.  

Adedunmade Onibokun Esq
@adedunmade
dunmadeo@yahoo.com

BAIL; FREE OR NOT

BAIL; FREE OR NOT

Many Nigerians do not understand the concept of bail, there have been questions about whether bail is free in police stations or whether it should be free. In some countries, offenders are required to post bail after submitting a form of security. In Nigeria, the police is empowered to grant bail for a reasonable sum,

the law however fails to state how much a reasonable sum is which leaves its interpretation very vague and relative. It should be noted that the intention of this article is only to share information and the services of a lawyer may be of importance if one happens to be in a situation where bail is required.
Bail is the temporary release of a person who has been arrested, charged to court or imprisoned, pending the conclusion of investigation or the determination of the case against him, or the determination of his appeal against conviction. There are 2 types of bail; police bail and court bail, thus bail can be granted by the Police or by the Courts.
In the Court the general rule is that anyone who is not arraigned for an offence punishable by death can be admitted to bail. The law provides that anyone arrested must be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time or the person should be released on bail. Reasonable time is defined as 24 hours after arrest where a court is situated within 40 kms from the Police station and 48 hours where the court is far away from the station. The process for applying for bail at the station is in writing, the person applying  shall produce a surety and the application shall include the passport photograph of the surety, if conditions are set for the bail,the suspect must satisfy the conditions before he is released. Bail is free in the police station however in reality this is far from the truth as some policemen demand payment for such bail applications even though the monies collected are never rendered to their superiors.

 
There are various conditions upon which a court may grant or refuse bail and some of them include:
– The likelihood that the accused person, if admitted to bail,will not interfere with police investigations.
– The gravity of the offence and the severity of the penalty.
– The likelihood of the accused person committing another offence while on bail.
-The criminal antecedents of the accused person.
– The number of times the suspect has committed the offence.
– The health condition of the accused.
 When an accused person jumps bail, the person may be re-arrested by the police and refuse any further bail applications made by him unless he shows good cause to the contrary.

Section 27 of the Police Act also empower the Police to grant bail for a reasonable amount, this is contrary to popular knowledge that bail is free. It provides that

” when a person is arrested without a warrant, he shall be taken before a magistrate who has jurisdiction with respect to the offence with which he is charged or is empowered to deal with him under section 484 of the Criminal Procedure Act as soon as practicable after he is taken into custody:
 Provided that any police officer for the time being in charge of a police station may inquire into the case and-
(a) except when the case appears to such officer to be of a serious nature, may release such person upon his entering into a recognisance, with or without sureties, for a reasonable amount to appear before a magistrate at the day, time and place mentioned in the recognisance; or

(b) if it appears to such officer that such inquiry cannot be completed forthwith, may release such person on his entering into a recognisance, with or without sureties for a reasonable amount, to appear at such police station and at such times as are named in the recognisance, unless he previously receives notice in writing from the superior police officer in charge of that police station that his attendance is not required, and any such bond may be enforced as if it were a recognisance conditional for the appearance of the said person before a magistrate.”
There is a current confusion with regard to the issue of bail as sometimes, the police have advertised that bail is free, however in reality, this may not be the case. As stated in the law, it depends on the police officer in charge to determine if bail will be granted and its also at his discretion to determine the amount at which bail is to be granted. This aspect of the Police Act really  needs amendment in other to remove the vagueness of the law.

By: Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.
@adedunmade
dunmadeo@yahoo.com