Not Guilty Until Proven Otherwise

Not guilty is the plea of a person who claims not
to have committed the crime of which he/she is accused. Everyone  charged with a criminal offence is presumed innocent, until proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. (Article II of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
The presumption of innocence sometimes referred to by the latin expression Ei Incumbit protatio qui dicit, non qui negat (The burden of proof is on he who declares, not on he who denies), is the principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty. In many nations, the presumption of innocence is the right of the accused in a criminal trial. The burden of proof is on the prosecution, which has to collect and present enough compelling evidence to convince the trier of fact (i.e the judge or magistrate), who is restrained and ordered by law to consider only actual evidence and testimony that is legally admissible. And in most cases lawfully obtained that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
In practice, the presumption of innocence is animated by the requirement that the government prove the charges against the defendant BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. This due process requirement is a fundamental tenet of our criminal justice system. It is contained in statutes and judicial opinions like section 36 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which provides that every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until he is proven  guilty.
But this provision has been grossly violated by members of the Nigerian Police Force, who in discharge of their duties have arrested some suspected armed robbers and paraded same in various media as robbers when they are yet to be declared guilty of the crime they were suspected of, by a court of competent jurisdiction. But in the Nassarawa Massacre (suspected Police rats) last year, the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar was quoted to have said that the policemen indicted in the attack by members of the Ombatse  cult group in Alayko Village, Nassarawa State are not guilty until proven otherwise. He said it was only an allegation that the policemen gave information to the cultists. When it has to do with them, the law will be strictly followed. How often have the authority of the Nigerian Police ensured that they follow due process in the parade of suspects who are yet to be found guilty. Rather, in some cases, the suspects are tortured to death and no one hears of the matter again. The families of such persons are left to grieve over their loss who might be innocent if the law had been allowed to follow due process.
I am sure, it is for this reason and many more that the recent 2014 Rule of Law Index Report recently released by the World Justice Project, passed such damning verdict on Nigeria, ranking Nigeria among the countries with the lowest respect for the rule of law. Imagine, of the 99 countries covered by the report, Nigeria ranked 93rd just a little above countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. What an insult, to our great and beloved country. Although we might say the report is over exaggerated, but no doubt it is a mockery on our democracy, because the baseline requirement for democracy anywhere in the world is respect for the rule of law, which we no longer have in this country. GOD HELP US.

Nkechi Bright Ewere