What does the law say about picking people from one part of the country and dumping them at another
part against their will? Lawyers gave insight into this.
No law supports this – Onu
The recent report on alleged deportation of some Nigerian citizens mainly from the eastern part from Lagos to Onitsha came to me as a big shock. The reason being that since my practice as a lawyer for almost two decades now, I have never come across any statute book that deals on deportation of a Nigerian citizen from one state to another. Section 35 (1) of the 1999 constitution, as amended, expressly states: “Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure permitted by law.”
Subsection (e) of the section states: “In the case of persons suffering from infections or contagious disease, persons of unsound mind, persons addicted to drugs or alcohol or vagrants, for the purpose of their care or treatment or the protection of the community”.
Section 34 (i) of the constitution states: “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person,” while section 41 (i) states: “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom.”
The combined effects of these constitutional provisions is that the right of a Nigeria to dignity of human person, right to personal liberty and right to freedom of movement are expressly guaranteed in our Supreme Law. There are, however, limitations to these provisions, but such limitations are carried out with a caveat i.e. in accordance with a procedure permitted by law.
The question that is germane at this juncture is: were these Nigerian deportees sent out of Lagos in accordance with a procedure permitted by law? It is therefore extremely expedient for the Lagos Sate Government under the learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Babatunde Fashola, to discharge this heavy moral burden by setting up a powerful commission of inquiry to investigate the surrounding circumstances on the alleged deportation.
Aside the legal implication, the action could be construed by ethnic jingoists from ethnic prism, bearing in mind that the vast majority of those alleged to have been deported are mainly petty traders from the Igbo ethnic extraction. Questions are already been asked by pundits whether such an action could be carried out by the state government during an electioneering period. To them, the action speaks volume of the insensibility of a government that has always seen the same ethnic group as brothers during election campaigns.
More importantly, the action also erodes immensely the much-cherished African value of showing hospitality to a stranger living outside his domain. Bearing in mind the volatile and precarious security situation in the country today, any sensible and sensitive government should be mindful of its policies and actions that are capable of exacerbating the already fragile situation.
It is on this note that well-meaning and patriotic individuals and organisations condemn in strong terms this barbaric action of the Lagos State Government. The only way to exonerate itself from culpability is for Fashola to come out openly and dissociate the state from the action as well as condemn the action intoto.
Anything short of this could result to reprisal action from the ethnic group who feel they are the targets of the government policy. Socially too, the action is coming when the South Eastern States are grappling with the great challenges of vicious crimes like armed banditry, kidnapping and deporting more un-anticipated and idle hands to the area will increase the criminal activities in the area.
No state has the right to do that – Barr Sahid Kolawale Shillings
It can only be likened to deportation, if that story is correct. Constitutionally, no state has the right to forcefully move any Nigerian from one state to another. We have to deal with this situation from a sociological point of view. There is a lot of pressure on Lagos State government to take care of a lot of people. Lagos population has skyrocketed up to 18 million people and no extra fund is coming from the federation account. You are talking about deportation. Are you aware that there are some people deporting their indigenes, especially from the North? If it is wrong for Lagos State to deport, it also wrong for other states to do the same.
Lagos is a mini Nigeria. If such measures are not put in place to checkmate population explosion then the social engineering network will collapse. Where do these blind people spring out from? Why should some persons, especially from the north, gather all their disabled persons and dump them in Lagos at night? I will advise the Lagos State government to start dumping unwanted persons secretly. Making laws is not an alternative because we do not have money to take care of them in the prisons. The allocation accruing to Lagos state should be increased considering the mass movement of people to the state. Since such help is yet to come our way, we should handle this matter from the social aspect.
It’s unconstitutional – Tony Dania
If it is true that Lagos State actually deported some persons from Lagos, it is very bad. If it is true, it is not only wrong but also unconstitutional. Every Nigerian has the right to live anywhere in the country. Even if the person is suspected to have committed a crime, the law should be allowed to take its course when you charge the person to court.
I know that Lagos wants to rid itself of beggars and people constituting nuisance in the state. How can they ensure that the people that they arrested are innocent? You can imagine how many days they were detained and packed like goods or cattle. I know that the governor, who is a well-respected lawyer, is not aware of this development.
Lagos State government should come up with a more civilised approach that will not be unconstitutional. They should come up with laws that would state that if you don’t have a valid identity card, you would be arrested and punished. There is a section of the criminal law that takes care of such arrest.
It is the most unreasonable and unwarranted act – Paully Onyeka
I have not heard that Lagos State government accepted responsibility for deporting people from the state to their states of origin. It is still an allegation, but if they are found to be responsible, then it is the most unreasonable, unconstitutional, illicit and unwarranted act. I believe that such act negates the principles of association and right of association of every Nigerian.
The 1999 constitution, in section 25, 26 and 27, gave us three ways one can become a citizen of this country. By birth, registration or naturalisation. It went ahead, under Chapter Four to create a wide range of rights to our people. This section is totally against dehumanisation; it is purely against inhuman treatment of anybody. The section says that no person shall be subjected to torture or inhuman treatment.
How else can you describe a situation where a human was arrested, detained in a congested cell, packed like cattle and transported at night to their states? That is callous. As an alternative, when a particular state feels that the population in the state is getting out of control, they should create laws that will take care of it. If you don’t want people to loiter about, create a law that will handle that. Arrest and prosecute the offenders.
Courtesy: The sun.< /p>