YOU AND THE POLICE

YOU AND THE POLICE

As a kid, I witnessed some police officers beating up a by-stander and all everyone could do was stand and watch. When the beating got to a stage, some elderly people had to intervene and when they asked what the by-stander had done to warrant such beating, one of them responded "HE MISYARNED". There and then, I added MISYARNING to the list of crimes I can commit against a police officer. Moments later, a man identifying himself as a lawyer stepped up to the scene and told them to re-state the by-stander's crime and to my amazement, their zeal to keep beating suddenly vanished.

At some point, they started stuttering in their quest to explain what he has done exactly and after a while, he wrote down their numbers, and names and promised to report their inhumane actions to their superiors. He also took pictures of the by-stander with his head bleeding profusely and just as he was about to leave, they started begging.

Deep in my mind, I said to myself "OH MY GOD! SO THIS GUY DIDN'T REALLY COMMIT ANY CRIME".

Let me remind you that the elderly people that first intervened were begging them to leave this young man despite the fact that MISYARNING isn't a crime anywhere in the Nigerian constitution. This is why you need to know your rights as a citizen.

The amount of abuse Nigerians suffer daily in the hands of the same law enforcement officers that are paid to protect us is alarming but if you don't know your rights, how can you fight for it? Matter of fact, we leave in a country where we break the law regularly to earn our daily living. This has prompted me put something together in order to educate you on the level of trouble you are in when you are caught committing a particular crime.

Generally, under the Nigerian criminal law, offences are categorized into 3 namely

• Simple Offences
• Misdemeanor
• Felony

Simply offences are punishable with imprisonment of less than 6months.

Misdemeanor is punishable with imprisonment of more than 6 months but not more than 3 years.

Felony is punishable with more than 3 years imprisonment. At times a culprit could get a death penalty.

Examples of simple offences inlcude

1. Unlawfully wearing the uniform of the armed forces or police.
2. Disturbing religious service without justification.
3. Cruelty to animal.
4. Entering Ship or wharf without ticket.

Examples of misdemeanor include

1. Forcible entry of land or property.
2. Affray (taking part in fight in a public place).
3. Threatening violence.
4. Impersonating members of the armed forces.
5. Insult to religion.
6. Attempting to commit suicide.

Examples of Felony

1. Rape
2. Kidnapping
3. Abandoning a child under 7 years old
4. Rioting
5. Receiving stolen properties
6. Bribes to public officials

BE LAW ABIDING!