Preawin: Hello Member! The Law Prohibits Trespass To Your Person

By// 1 Comment// Know your rights 
Trespass to the person means any unlawful or unauthorized contact to your body like assault, battery, false imprisonment, physical torture, causing grievous injuries, etc.

The Nigerian Constitution guarantees every citizen a right to the dignity of his person. Section 34 of the 199 Constitution (as amended) specifically provides that:

“Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person…”

So, this means that anything that violates your dignity as a person is unconstitutional and wrong.

Examples of trespass to your person or violation of your human dignity are as follows:

  • Assault
    1. In civil law, assault means any act done with force or violence by another person which puts you in fear of an imminent danger or harm. it is totally different from the definitions in the dictionary or in criminal law, because here, there is probably no actual bodily contact.
    2. So, it is assault if a man moves to attack you and you are actually within his attacking distance, but others interven to hold and prevent him from reaching you. It does not matter that the man did not get to you or did not actually touch you bodily.
    3. Other examples of assault are: throwing stone or other objects at another person with intent to cause him injury, even if the stone or object did not hit the victim; striking another with a cane or horsewhip though the cane or horsewhip missed the victim; etc.

 

  • Battery, Causing Grievous Or Permanent Injuries
    1. As distinct from assault, battery is the actual unlawful contact to your person. So, if a man holds a stick, raises it up with a threat to hit you with it, it is assault. If he then actually hits you with the stick, it becomes battery under civil law.
    2. If a man hits another with his fist, it is battery, so also when a woman slaps another.
    3. Battery may also result in grievous injuries to the victim, e.g., where Mr. A stabs Mr. B with a knife, broken bottle or any other sharp object in which case, the victim may incur expenses in medical treatment. The offender will liable for all these expenses.
    4. However, battery does not have to result in injury to you before you can make a claim. If a man pushes you unlawfully, it becomes battery, even if you did not suffer any physical injury.
    5. There are times when the bodily contact is not direct. For example, if I set a dog upon John and the dog bites him, it is battery and John is entitled to make his claim against me.
    6. Note, however, that it is not every instances of unlawful contact that result in battery. There are times when an involuntary or unintentional contact takes place, like in everyday life. For instance, if I go to market or stay at a bus stop or inside a crowded bus where there are many people who are probably rushing, pushing or shoving each other, I cannot make a claim for battery so long as the pushing or shoving do not cause me physical injury and so long as it is normal in everyday life.

 

  • Torture
    1. Contrary to general belief, torture is not carried out by the police or security agencies alone, but by civilians, vigilante groups, or by a group of people intent on punishing a supposed offender for an alleged crime.
    2. Torture may not only be physical but could be psychological or emotional.
    3. Examples of torture include unlawful beating, whipping, denial of food or medical attention, any type of degrading and inhuman treatment which results in pain and suffering to the victim, beating/whipping with brooms for people accused of witchcraft, forcing the victim to drink poisonous substances or other concoctions, putting the victim through some rituals which are harmful, etc. All these are wrongful and not permitted by law. A victim of any of these illegalities is entitled to claim damages against the perpetrators of the act
    4. It does not matter that the victim was indeed guilty of the allegation against him or that he is a criminal. Torture under any guise is unlawful and not allowed by law. A victim of torture is, therefore, entitled under the law to make civil claims for trespass to his or her person.

 

  • False Imprisonment
    1. False imprisonment is any unlawful deprivation of the liberty of another person. It is a civil as well as constitutional wrong.
    2. It is false imprisonment to take a man to a destination and hold him there against his wish. It is false imprisonment to hold someone in e.g., a car and prevent him from leaving or disembarking when he so wished. It is false imprisonment to keep a person in a room or office under an allegation that he committed a crime without handing him over to the police within a reasonable period of time.
    3. False imprisonment could also be with the Police or other security agencies. It is false imprisonment if a police officer unlawfully detains a suspect in any other place aside from a police station. It is false imprisonment to detain a person without any lawful justification. It is false imprisonment for members of any security agency, (e.g., army, navy or air force), aside from the police to detain a person upon suspicion of having committed a crime without handling him over to the police within a reasonable time so long as the offence is not related to the military or against national security. It is false imprisonment for members of vigilante groups to detain a person suspected of having committed an offence without handling him over to the police within a reasonable time.
    4. It is false imprisonment for the landlord to lock up the gates of an apartment or premises in order to restrain a defaulting tenant from leaving the premises or in order to frustrate him into packing out of the premises. It is false imprisonment for a creditor to lock up the doors on the debtor in order to force him to pay.
    5. Abduction and kidnapping are forms of false imprisonment. Abduction essentially involves taking a female victim away or detaining her against her wish with intent to marry her or have sexual intercourse with her. Kidnapping means the victim being unlawfully imprisoned outside or inside Nigeria or detained against his wish, in such a manner as to prevent others from knowing where he is detained and being refused release until and unless certain conditions are fulfilled. Either way, abduction and kidnapping are unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional. There are no justifications for them. They amount to false imprisonment under civil law and a trespass to the person for which the victim is entitled to make claims for compensation.
    6. Note here that the period of confinement does not have to be long. It is irrelevant that the victim was falsely imprisoned for a relatively short period of time, or for days or weeks. It is sufficient if the false imprisonment lasted for some moments, so long as there was the unlawful intention to deprive the victim of his movement and there was the actual deprivation or confinement. The deprivation must also have occurred by the act of the defendant.