I was home on a wet Saturday afternoon, chilling and blogging, when a friend called me and said she had just been arrested by the police. This did not come as a surprise to me because she has always been a troublesome person. Not a criminal, just troublesome.

Being the troublesome person she is, she argued and resisted arrest by the police which only aggravated the police officers and caused a very ugly scene. They eventually bundled her into their van and took her to their station. I got to the police station, spoke with the police officer in charge and it was discovered that it was a case of mistaken identity. They had arrested the wrong person.

This got me thinking, lots of people (innocent and guilty) do not know the first thing to do when/if they get arrested. If she had been calm about it and asked some pertinent questions, she would not have been arrested in the first place. There are some major things you need to know if you are about to be arrested, some of which include:

1. Remain calm and don’t try to resist the arrest.

2. Ask the officer for the reason you are being arrested.

3. Ask the officer what station you are being taken to.

4. If the person arresting you is not in uniform, ask the person to identify himself.

5. If you are not arrested while supposedly committing a crime, ask for the arrest warrant.

6. As soon as you are sure of the station, contact your family, friends, and lawyer informing them that you have been arrested and mention the name of the station.

7. Do not write a statement without your lawyer present. Remember, you have a right to silence.

8. If you must, write your statement yourself and sign it. If the officer writes the statement for you, make sure he reads it to you before you sign it.

At the police station, a police officer takes down the statement of the suspect so that he can narrate his side of the story in permanent form and it can easily be referred to in the future if the case goes to trial.

It should also be noted that all suspects are entitled to various rights even while in police custody. These rights are to protect them and ensure that justice is done. Some of the rights are:

1. Right to decent cell conditions and facilities.

2. Right to decent feeding and proper medical attention.

3. Right to access to family and friends.

4. Right to remain silent and to be presumed innocent.

5. Right to a lawyer.

6. Right to police bail.

It should be known that it is unlawful to deprive a suspect of these rights just because he/she is a suspect. Unfortunately, most of these rights are violated every day and nothing is being done about it.

However, if you feel that your rights or the right of someone you know has been violated, contact your lawyer IMMEDIATELY.
[url][/url]www.tylegal.com

Bookmarking this page wouldn't be a bad idea. My fear is that those even carrying out the arrests may have no idea on these Rights sef, might turn out to be a waste of time or you will be treated like an "oversabi".

Nice info

This is nonsense. Nowhere in Nigeria that you have any of the above stated right as you will be forced to do whatever they want you to say or written down by themselves. No so called right and the so called bail is not free. You dear not report them if they ask you to pay for bail.Some can turn it that you wanted to bribe them.The case will be turned against you.

Nigerian police which way