IN 2009 Nigeria’s immediate past Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa,  inaugurated a 19-man ‘National Committee on Torture’ to investigate alleged cases of torture in the country. 

The committee, which has as members representatives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has as mandate, to visit hospitals where there have been reported cases of ill-treatment of victims and patients by medical doctors, nurses and other health workers.

Expectations are rife on when the committee will come up  with a blue print on how best to curb the use of torture. Chief Richard Akinjide, a former Attorney General of Federation, spoke to Charles Kumolu on the issue.

GIVEN that Nigeria is  signatory to a lot of conventions against torture, what would you say about allegation of torture against various security agencies?

It is illegal, so the question of stopping torture does not arise because right from time, it has been illegal and unlawful. Any nation or any system of law that permits torture, is against not only democratic norms but that nation is also against the rule of law. No sane government should encourage it as a means of interrogation because most nations are committed to support the protection of peoples’ fundamental rights.

There are instances when  criminals prove difficult thereby making torture an option of getting information. Can information obtained through torture be dependable?

It is not only not  dependable, it is inadmissible. You cannot use it to convict an accused in the court of law. It is against the rule of law It should not be entertained. There are other means of getting information. It must not be torture.

The person might say what you want to hear so that the person torturing him can stop. There is no where that confessions obtained under duress can be presented in court.

Some have cited the absence of modern investigative tools like forensic equipments as part of the reasons for the growing use of torture, while others argued that even if the equipments are provided the issue would remain. This group hinged there argument on the ground that even in the US where crime prevention and investigative tools are in abundance, torture is still being used. What is your view on it?

If any instrument of justice in Nigeria is using coercion and torture, that person is acting illegally. And any evidence obtained can not be used in court of law. The government should enact all necessary laws to ensure that security agencies are disuaded from using it on accused people. There is need to make concrete improvement against the campaign for the use of torture to stop.

The Police Service Commission, PSC, through its chairman recently declared that the Force must stop the use of torture on accused people. In what appears like a display of its determination to ensure an acceptable alternative to tortue, Oyo State Police command recently dismissed one of its own for allegedly torturing a suspect to death.

There is nothing that cannot be stopped if there is political will. You may wish to know that when the Nigeria Police served under the United Nations,UN, on peacekeeping duty in Yugoslavia and other parts of the world, they have the best testimonials among their peers from other parts of the world.

I cannot under understand why Nigeria police that is so regarded internationally, will have bad perception at home. The PSC can do that. That was a good example and we expect them to do more in convincing the people that our international standing reflects at home. It is totally unacceptable. We must reflect good character internationally.

There should be no difference between what we do internationally and what is obtainable at home.

In the course of writing this story, it was discovered that capital punishment is an extension of torture. Can death penalty  pass as torture?

It is not. Capital punishment is a question of municipal law. That is why there is no universal rule of law on capital punishment. It is a matter of municipal law.

The courts should always  remember the provisions of the Evidence Act, and  judges should  reject any evidence proven to have been obtained under duress.