By Prof Obiaraeri N. O.
Rule of law is best for our democracy! Nigeria is a constitutional democracy governed by rule of law. Although this arguable but it is the standard prescribed under the national constitution and extant statutes. Contrary to the popularly held belief occasioned by existential realities, Nigeria is neither a jungle nor a banana republic. Nigeria has issues with her rule of law and obedience to laws but it is certainly not a lawless country. In the celebrated case of MILITARY GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE & ORS V OJUKWU & ANOR (1986) LPELR-3186(SC) (Pp. 21-22 paras. C), the Supreme Court, per Obaseki (as he then was), JSC stated emphatically that “The Nigerian Constitution is founded on the rule of law the primary meaning of which is that everything must be done according to law. It means also that government should be conducted within the frame-work of recognized rules and principles which restrict discretionary power which Coke colorfully spoke of as ‘golden and straight and of law as opposed to the uncertain and crooked cord of discretion’. The rule of law means that disputes as to the legality of acts of government are to be decided by judges who are wholly independent of the executive. That is the position in this country where the judiciary has been made independent of the executive by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria …. The judiciary cannot shirk its sacred responsibility to the nation to maintain the rule of law. It is both in the interest of the government and all persons in Nigeria. The law should be even handed between the government and citizens.”
This intervention is about Nigeria and Nigerians choosing between their fledgling democracy and outright descent into mobocracy. While democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, mobocracy is mob rule or ochlocracy. Mobocracy is said to be “a pejorative term describing an oppressive majoritarian form of government controlled by the common people through the intimidation of authorities”. In a democracy, the minority will have their say while the majority will have their way unlike mobocracy which is anarchy, lawlessness, impunity writ large.
In a democracy, rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms are preserved while mobocracy is promotive of jungle justice. Jungle justice is no justice. It is irrational and manifestly indefensible. The mob has no friends.
Without justifying or excusing it, suffice it to say that many things conduce to mobocracy. Slide from the Olympian height of democracy to the mundane nadir of mobocracy is symptomatic of failed government and failed administration of justice system. People have recourse to mobocracy because of many reasons some of which are lack of confidence in the judiciary; lack of confidence in the criminal justice system, police, and other security agencies. Jungle justice thrives where there is failure of intelligence gathering and prevention and detection of crime mechanisms. Governance must be responsible and responsive! Without being repetitive, mobocracy is also symptomatic of leadership failure. When the leaders disconnect from the people, when leaders become uncaring or nonchalant about the security and welfare of the people, reason and common sense will take flight.
It is against this background that we condemn in very strong terms the apparent resurgence of mobocracy and jungle justice across the land. This intervention sues for respect for the right to life and dignity of the human person. It canvasses a compelling need for recourse to rule of law and a reiteration of the advocacy against jungle justice. STOP JUNGLE JUSTICE NOW!
Recent events around different parts of the country manifest that mob justice is back. Persons, irrespective of age or sex, suspected or allegedly caught or accused of committing one form of offence or the other are instantly mobbed and lynched or set ablaze. The psyche of the Nigerian person seems to be in tatters. This is unbelievable and unjustifiable. No matter the heinous nature of the crime committed or the level of anger and despondency in the land, the right to life of the human person remains sacrosanct and inviolable except in the few exceptions and duly excused or excepted under section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended. The resurgence of jungle justice in our polity is shocking, alarming and outrightly condemnable. Some blood hungry folks and lawless patrons offer one funny excuse or the other for recourse to instant justice or jungle justice. Asking pointedly, why are some too quick to offer defence to things that dehumanise our common humanity? It is beyond contention that the people who lynch others lack basic attributes of human dignity which insist that humanity is one and all humans must be respected and human life must be treated with utmost inviolability.
Under the Nigerian constitution which borrowed heavily from the International Bill of Human Rights, no one is allowed the right to extra-judicial killings, meaning unlawful or unjustified killing of another. Not even the law enforcement or security agencies. Calcified jurisprudence teaches that dignity is the precursor of human rights. Human rights exist to protect human dignity. What we loosely allude to as human rights is an offshoot of human dignity. Every man or woman was born with dignity. Dignity of the human person is so important that the dead has dignity and no human rights! Incessant recourse to self- help remedy and mob justice is a practical manifestation of lack of dignity. We opine that if the dignity quotient of the Nigerian is high, he or she will be prepared to be patient with others and obey the laws of the land by according them the rights guaranteed under our constitution.
Nigerians must be reminded that our extant constitution guarantees right to life, right to dignity, right to fair hearing and right to presumption of innocence which all combine to make jungle justice not to be part of our legal system. An accused person remains innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. No one man is authorised to take the laws into his hands and whimsically decide to take the life of others. Put simply, that is the essence of due process and rule of law. Our constitution clearly prescribes and guarantees rule of law. Rule of law is not rule of the mob! Legally, mob justice is illegal and unjustified.
The touted failure of the police and other strands of our administration of criminal justice system offers no justification for lynching a suspected criminal or using tyres to burn him or her alive. Resort to mob justice is conclusively barbaric! Nigerian criminal jurisprudence is so robust that it concedes to the private person the right of arrest of a felon. The only caveat is that you must hand over the privately arrested offender to the police. When next you see a suspect being lynched by a mob or being set ablaze by blood hungry villains, remember that the right to dignity teaches respect for our common humanity and empathy. It is indubitable that if you value your own life, you will not be quick to terminate the life of another and in bizarre circumstances. Think about it and join the advocacy to stop all forms of jungle justice or mob gangsterism. Let rule of law prevail and let the right to life and dignity of the human person remain immutable, sacrosanct and inviolable.
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