The Nigerian Constitution and your Fundamental Human Rights

[Motolani Olayiwola]

What does the Nigerian Constitution say about your fundamental human rights.
1. The Right to Life;

i. Right of every citizen to life is guaranteed under the Constitution;
ii.Taking the life of another without justification is murder, a capital offence punishable with death;
iii. No one is allowed to intentionally take the life of another person except in execution of the sentence of a court in Nigeria which finds him guilty of a capital offence;
iv. Where a life is taken unintentionally, the offender must be able to prove that it falls within the recognized exceptions;
v. Any force which results in the death of another person must be reasonably necessary and such a force must be lawful, otherwise, it will be regarded as murder;
vi. Death from vehicle accident is not intentional deprivation of life, but the offender may be found guilty of manslaughter or liable to pay damages in a civil suit.

2. The Right to dignity of person;

i. Every citizen is entitled to the dignity of his person;
ii. It is unconstitutional and illegal to subject a citizen to torture or any inhumane treatment;
iii. It is against the constitution to force a person into servitude or labor except under recognised situations like emergency, natural disasters and parts of training;
iv. Please note that it is only in respect to freedom from forced labor that the constitution permits your rights to be infringed under some circumstances.

3. Right to personal liberty;

i. You are entitled to sue and claim damages from anyone who unlawfully deprives you of your liberty;
ii. Anyone detained by the police for any offence is entitled to remain silent or not make any statement until after consultations with his lawyer;
iii. It is unconstitutional for the police to unduly detain a suspect under the excuse that investigations into the matter has not been completed;
iv. Please not that the only limitation to your right to personal liberty is when you are to be tried by the court within two to three months in capital offenses.

4. Right to fair hearing;
It is another important provision of the constitution to your fundamental human rights;

i. Any person against whom any question relating to his civil rights and obligations is to be determined must be given the opportunity to answer and be heard on that question;
ii. Any person charged with a criminal offence is presumed innocent by the Constitution;
iii. The Constitution has made specific rules as regards a person charged with criminal offence and those rules must be obeyed otherwise the accused person has been denied fair hearing;
iv. No person can be charged for an act which was not an offence at the time it was committed;
v. No person who has been tried and either acquitted or convicted of an offence can be tried again for that same offence;
vi. Every offence must be in a written law and must have a penalty prescribed for it before the Constitution would recognize it as an offence.

5. Right to family and private life;

i. Every citizen has the right to private and family life;
ii. Every citizen has the right to the privacy of his dwelling place;
iii. Nobody has the right to disclose your medical and financial records to another without your consent and authority;
iv. No one has the right to tap into your telephone or telegraphic communications or correspondences without your consent and authority;
v. No one has the right to film, record or show television footage of you without your express consent and authority;
vi. Please note that all the above stated rights are subject to certain exceptions permitted by the Constitution.

6. Right to worship;

i. Freedom of worship is the right of every citizen;
ii. Every citizen is entitled to choose and adopt any thought or conscience;
iii. Every citizen is entitled to openly practice and manifest his religion without any disturbance;
iv. No student is allowed to be compelled to take religious instructions contrary to his religion or that of his parents;
v. A religious body or community which wholly funds and maintains a school is entitled to provide its religious instructions to the students;
vi. However, as an exception, you cannot practice or manifest your religion in any way that will become offensive, criminal, nuisance, annoyance or provocation to others.

7. The Right to freedom of expression and opinion;

i. The Constitution guarantees all citizens freedom of expression and opinion;
ii. Every citizen is allowed access to freely disseminate and receive information;
iii. Subject to regulations placed under the law, each and every citizen is entitled to own and establish a medium of imparting information and ideas;
iv. Nobody is allowed to hide under the right of freedom of expression to spread deliberate falsehood or misinformation;
v. Nobody is allowed to make negative comments about a case pending in court, particularly when the person making the comment is one of the parties in the case;
vi. Please note that you have limitations to your freedom of expression, like the law against libel, slander, blackmail, etc.

8. The Right to association;

i. The Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to freely assemble with others;
ii. You are entitled under the Constitution to form or belong to any association of your choice;
iii. Freedom of association also means that nobody has the right to force you to join or belong to any particular group or association;
iv. Subject to constitutional requirements, you are entitled to form or belong to any political party of your choice;
v. Any member of any particular trade is also entitled to join any trade union for the protection of his interest;
vi. Please note the constitutional limitations to freedom of assembly and associations.

9. The Right to freedom of movement;

i.The Constitution guarantees every citizen freedom of movement from one point to another;
ii. You are entitled to live and settle down in any part of the country notwithstanding that such place is not your place of birth;
iii. No one can prevent you from traveling in or out of the country;
iv. No person is allowed to restrict your movement or prevent you from moving to any place you so desire;
v. Law on wandering has been abolished, hence no policeman is allowed to arrest or threaten any individual on this;
vi. Please note that there are limitations on freedom of movement under the Constitution for the sake of security, public order, public safety, etc.

10. The Right to own and acquire property;

i. Every citizen is entitled to own and acquire any immovable property in any part of Nigeria notwithstanding that it is not his place of birth or origin;
ii. Every citizen is guaranteed freedom from the compulsory acquisition of his property;
iii. Please note the constitutional limitations as to when a property can be compulsorily acquired;
iv. Under the Land Use Act, any property acquired by any government must be for over-riding public purpose;
v. No government is allowed to hide under the Land Use Act to compulsorily acquire the property of another citizen for its own selfish purposes;
vi. Where the property of the citizen is compulsorily acquired under any law except for crime or breach of the law, such a citizen must be promptly paid compensation at the current market value of the property at the time of acquisition.

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