Is Bail Truly Free? Legal Expert Tells Neusroom Conditions For Granting Bail Amidst Allegations of Police Extortion
Nigerian cyberspace is inundated with allegations of the police imposing excessive fines on citizens. From extorting motorists to harassment and other illicit actions that some personnel engage in, which have cast the force in a negative light, the debate over whether it is legal to pay bail at the police station when arrested remains one that the public has not fully comprehended in terms of its legality or illegality.
Three years ago, in October 2023, Nigerians took to the streets demanding the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigerian Police Force accused of extortion and extrajudicial killing of young people. However, the protest evolved into a movement, with the protesters’ demands expanding to include a complete reform of the police force.
Nevertheless, the corruption within the Nigerian police appears to have persisted. According to a survey conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, police personnel collect more bribes than any other government agency. Data indicates that one in every three individuals who come into contact with a police officer pays a bribe.
While Section 98A of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria stipulates a jail term of seven years for anyone found guilty of bribing a public officer, many Nigerians who pay bail at police stations do so under duress and, perhaps, out of ignorance.
On Saturday, September 23, 2023, an X user, Emmanuel Oyemachi, posed a question that many Nigerians have repeatedly asked: “Is bail truly free?”
According to Itunuoluwa Awolu of the Headfort Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the mission of decongesting Nigerian prisons, there are three major types of bail: administrative bail, court bail, and bail pending appeal.
“Administrative bail is what we have at the police station or any other law enforcement agency detention center. It is the bail pending arraignment in court,” Awolu explained.
At the police station, an accused individual is eligible to be granted administrative bail. However, this bail, which is legally supposed to be free, has been used by some police officers to extort unsuspecting Nigerians.
According to the provisions of the 1999 constitution, as amended, in the case of any person arrested or detained, the police are obligated to bring the person before a court within 24 hours if the distance between the police station and the court is 40 kilometers or less, and within 48 hours if the distance is more than 40 kilometers.
“Administrative bails are free. Bail conditions are usually given in a ‘like sum’,” Awolu said.
She continued, “What we have at the police station is a bail bond, and within it, you’ll find the section that specifies the sum of money (with space for them to write the sum) and a surety in like sum. This implies that the surety must be someone worth the stated amount of money upon which the bail is being granted.”
However, a court bail is granted when the person has been arraigned in court, and the court deems the person eligible for bail.
Depending on the condition, court bail can require a fee.
“Sometimes, the bail condition will be such that the court will say, ‘Bail is granted in the sum of N500,000, with a requirement to pay N50,000.’ When you hear ‘pay,’ it is explicitly stated that you have to pay that amount of money to be deposited in the court registry,” she said.
