Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to intensify efforts to end the illegal arrest and prolonged detention of citizens by the police and other law enforcement agencies.

Falana, in a statement yesterday, said the NBA had a statutory and professional responsibility to ensure that the constitutional rights of Nigerians, particularly indigent citizens, were protected against unlawful arrest and detention.

He said the combined provisions of Section 34 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and Section 70 of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, mandated Chief Magistrates to conduct monthly visits to police stations within their magisterial districts.

According to him, the Chief Magistrates are empowered during such visits to inspect records of arrests, direct that detained suspects be brought before a court for trial or formal arraignment where appropriate, and grant bail to suspects in deserving cases.

Falana, however, said the legal safeguards would be more effective if members of the NBA Human Rights Committees participated in the monthly inspections.

He therefore urged the NBA, under its President, Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, to ensure that members of the Human Rights Committees in all 145 branches accompany Magistrates during their visits to police stations.

He also called on the NBA leadership to mount pressure on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to designate judges to conduct monthly visits to detention facilities other than police stations, as required by law.

According to him, both the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Nigeria Police Act have empowered judges of the Federal High Court to inspect detention facilities within their jurisdictions to ensure that suspects are not detained beyond the period permitted by the Constitution.

He expressed concern that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court had yet to designate judges to undertake the visits.

He therefore urged the NBA to ensure compliance with the statutory requirement.

Falana further drew attention to Section 21 of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019, which makes the President and National Officers of the NBA official visitors to correctional centres across the country.

He urged the new NBA leadership to mobilise its national officers to visit correctional centres and carry out their statutory responsibilities without further delay, stressing that such visits would strengthen oversight and help protect the rights of inmates.

The human rights lawyer also cited the judgment in The Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v. Police Service Commission & Ors (Suit No. NICN/ABJ/264/2025), in which the National Industrial Court, per Justice O.Y. Anuwe, declared that the police authorities have a mandatory duty to deploy legal practitioners within the police force to every Police Division in Nigeria.

Falana said the deployment of police officers who are legal practitioners was intended to assist with the enforcement of human rights in policing at the divisional level, as provided under Section 66(3) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.

He therefore urged the NBA to ensure full compliance with the judgment and invoke all relevant legal provisions to bring an end to the illegal arrest and detention of Nigerians, particularly indigent citizens, by the police and other law enforcement agencies. (The Nation)