Lagos State House of Assembly has passed an amended version of Criminal Justice Law of the State barring the police from parading suspects before the media.
The bill was passed on Monday at a sitting presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, on behalf of the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa.
Section 9 (A) of the bill states that the police must from the commencement of the law refrain from parading any suspect before the media.
The bill, which also stipulates conditions under which the police can arrest without warrant, states that a person must be reasonably suspected to unlawfully be in possession of firearms or other such dangerous instruments.
A subsection of the bill also barred the police or any other agency from arresting a person ‘in lieu of any other person in a criminal matter’.
The bill adds that a person who is arrested “shall be given reasonable facilities for obtaining legal advice, bail or making arrangements for defence or release”.
A suspect should also be “accorded humane treatment, with the right to dignity of person; not subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment; be brought before the court as prescribed by this law or any other written law; or be released conditionally or unconditionally”.
In the same vein, members also adopted the recommendations of the report of the Committee on Housing on the “Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority Bill,2020”.
The bill seeks to regulate the practice and procedure of foreign investments in real estate and its compliance with Federal Acts, Laws of Lagos State and International Best Practices.
After a voice vote on the bills, the deputy speaker on behalf of the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, directed acting Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, to convey the bill to the governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for his assent.
