PROTECTION AND REDRESSES FOR VICTIMS AND WITNESSES OF TORTURE BY THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE

Nigeria is a country where cases of serious human rights abuses by security agencies especially the Police are the order of the day, and without any form of protection and redress to the victims and witnesses of human rights infringement recognized by the law.Regrettably, there have been consistent denials by the leadership of the Nigeria Police on the use of torture-based interrogation to elicit information from victims and intimidation of the witnesses of human rights abuse.In reality, people are usually subjected to physical and mental torture by the Police as principal means of investigation.Virtually all the countries in the world are signatories to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on prohibition of torture.However, some countries are yet to criminalize the act of torture.In Africa for instance, out of the fifty-four (54) African countries, only nine (9) have criminalized torture in their local legislations.While the Nigerian State has criminalized torture, however, it has failed to provide adequate protections and remedies for the victims and witnesses of torture within legal system.