𝗗𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱’𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗔𝗣𝗣 𝗟𝗮𝘄: By Comrade Victor Ojei (Wonbox)

𝐀 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬.

The 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 Community in Delta State expresses deep concern over the growing trend of rights violations stemming from the misapplication of the Delta State 𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀(𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻)𝗟𝗮𝘄 (𝗩𝗔𝗣𝗣), 2020, by the Delta State Police Command.

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐰— 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫-𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬-𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝗩𝗔𝗣𝗣 𝗟𝗮𝘄, 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 29(1) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (2), 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠.

The distinction is not merely semantic. “𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞” refers to the deliberate display of private parts; “𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠,” on the other hand, is subjective and vague, and criminalizing it is legally unfounded. What the police are attempting is a moral crusade, not law enforcement.

Lack of morality is not a crime. Our laws do not criminalize how people choose to dress, especially when such choices do not constitute public indecency or expose genitalia as defined by law. Attempting to police morality violates the rights of women and girls, who now face profiling and harassment simply for choosing their mode of dress.

This abuse is unconstitutional. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to express oneself through clothing and appearance.

In the landmark case of Director of 𝐒𝐒𝐒 𝐕. 𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐀𝐠𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐛𝐚 (1999) 3 NWLR (Pt. 595) 314, the Supreme Court held that constitutional rights cannot be restrained by subjective moral standards. Similarly, in 𝐈𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐕. State (2006) All 𝐅𝐖𝐋𝐑(𝐏𝐭. 298) 1299, the court affirmed that laws must be clear, unambiguous, and not give room for abuse or selective interpretation.

International human rights instruments also uphold this position. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (𝐔𝐃𝐇𝐑) and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐏𝐑) guarantee freedom of expression without arbitrary interference or discrimination.

𝐖𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄, 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐎:

1. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐀𝐏𝐏 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬.

2. 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲— 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬.

3. 𝐔𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰.

The Human Rights Community remains vigilant and will not hesitate to seek redress in the Court against unlawful police actions.

𝐄-𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝:
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗷𝗲𝗶 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝘅 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮,𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
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