Oluwasoji Oyetunde Okinbaloye

The Rights of an Accused Under the Nigerian Criminal Laws: Proving Beyond Reasonable Doubt Oluwasoji Oyetunde Okinbaloye

The rights to ?procedure permitted by law? granted to accused persons are not primarily their own privilege. On the contrary ?procedure permitted by law? is a pledge to the entire Nigerian Society that our police, our prosecuting officials and our courts will do that which is right and just in obedience to the rules of law which have been evolved out of years of experience. It should not be swallowed hook, line and sinker that the fact that these rights exist guarantees automatic compliance by some officials. Cases abound in our law reports which shows that there have been occasions in which our courts have stoutly prevented the abuses of power by overzealous public officials. In some however, the courts have experienced great difficulty in eradicating illegal methods adopted against accused person. This is so because where the accused persons make such allegations, the courts have found it difficult to admit or accept such allegations since such accused persons have had to prove their allegations and this task has never been an easy one for them. Then arose the question "WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS AVAILED AN ACCUSED IN NIGERIA?".