Counsel Wants Police To Grant Suspect Access To Lawyer

A  Port Harcourt-based
lawyer and human rights advocate, Barr. Simple Dioha has flayed  the police over what he described as unreasonable denial of a suspect access to his lawyer.
Barr. Dioha, who spoke with The Tide in Port Harcourt last Monday, noted that the denial of the suspect’s access  to his lawyer through  insisting that access must be through the investigation police officer (IPO) was a contravention of the constitutional rights of the suspect as provided in Section 35 (5) (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
He said it was wrong for the police to insist that access to a suspect must be through the IPO, while  some times  the IPO would not be at the station and access  would be denied.
Barr. Dioha noted that though it is proper to allow the IPO to take charge of the matter he was investigating  but erroneous to hinder the suspect from speaking with his lawyer.
He said it was amazing that in some police  stations lawyers visiting their clients in detention are asked to provide tissue and soap before they could see them.
The Port Harcourt lawyer expressed regrets that some policemen did not know the difference  between the relatives of the suspect and his counsel.
Barr. Dioha also condemned a situation where  the bail  of a suspect was made dependent on  the agreement  of the complainant. He said it was not  the place of the complainant to determine whether a suspect should be granted bail or not.
He condemned the situation where the lawyer of a suspect was asked to settle with the complainant  before the suspect could be granted bail, and pointed  out that such practice was alien to law.
Barr. Dioha stated that bail was determined by the gravity of the offence and not the consent  of the complainant.
The Port  Harcourt lawyer  also  flayed the police for venturing entirely into civil matters like debt recovery  as well as tenancy matters which were  not under the purview  of the police.
He, however,  praised the police for their diligence in fighting crime in the society.