The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has called for
removal of the inscription “Bail is Free’’ from
police stations and law courts, saying that it is
misleading. In a statement in Lagos on Tuesday, the state
Chairman of CLO, Mr Ehi Omokhuale, said that bail
had not been free, and that the public should be
properly informed.
“The CLO upholds that the “Bail is Free’’
inscription in our police stations and law courts is
not only an institutionalised fraud against the
citizenry, but a practice that makes our human
rights stance a laughing stock in the eyes of the
civilised world. “We demand, therefore, that bail fees charged by
the police and our law courts for the different
offences should be published and the “Bail is
Free’’ inscription replaced with “Bail Fees’’
Omokhuale said. He also called on the state police command, local
governments in the state and Lagos State
Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) to curb
extortion among their men and agents. Omokhuale also urged the National Union of
Road Transport Workers and Road Employers
Association of Nigeria to also call their men to
order. “Extortion on Lagos roads has become
unceasingly unnerving and an eyesore. “Police road blocks mounted with sticks, drums
tyres and firewood at various odd parts of the city
is far from being the standard mode of policing. “The crude operational style sometimes used by
LASTMA and Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI)
personnel, leaves much to be desired and has no
place in a modern city structure,’’ he said.
www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/remove-bail-free-inscription-bail-not-free-clo/

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