The police have commended the Lagos House of Assembly for taking a “bold step” to curb the menace of cultism and other vices in the state.

CSP Ebere Amaraizu, the National Coordinator of Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), gave the commendation in a statement.

On Monday, the Lagos parliament had passed the Unlawful Societies and Cultism (Prohibition) Bill 2020, which stipulated punishment for parents of convicted cultists as one of its components.

The parliament passed the bill during a plenary session on Monday through a voice vote conducted by the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa.

Mr. Obasa said, “Parents of cultists found guilty of cultism in the state might be liable for punishment. The bill, if signed into law, will provide for the prohibition of unlawful societies and cultism in Lagos and connected purposes.”

Ms. Amaraizu described the passage of the bill as a right step in the right direction.

She explained, “The bill is an indication that stakeholders are gradually rising to end the menace, which has become a global pandemic. This will help to strengthen the campaign against cultism and other vices.

“What this means now is that those already in will have to willingly come out by making use of the police platform of POCACOV, which is community-driven, to turn themselves into better persons. It will also be good if more states join by taking steps like this or more because it is an ill-wind that will blow nobody any good.” 

Meanwhile, legal practitioners who spoke with Peoples Gazette on Tuesday have faulted the bill.

“The bill is against the provision of section 4 of Nigeria’s constitution. If assented by the Lagos state governor, there will be a lot of opposition to it,” Okenna Nnebedum, a lawyer, said.

In a similar vein, Festus Ogun, a legal practitioner pointed out that punishing parents for their children’s crimes was unlawful.

Mr. Ogun, said, “It is an aberration for any police officer or any security agencies whatsoever, to arrest a person in suspicion of another.”

According to him, section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 “explicitly provides” that it is wrong to arrest a person in place of a suspect.

“Even section 4 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos state made it abundantly clear that you cannot arrest a person in place of a suspect. If you now go ahead and say you want to arrest the parent of a child in place of that child you are definitely breaching the law,” Ogun asserted.

Mr. Ogun explained that the bill would breach section 35 of the country’s constitution, which gives everyone, parent or child, the right to liberty.

Citing a court of appeal’s verdict in a case between ACB vs Okwonkwo in 1997, the lawyer said, “The court had made it clear that you cannot arrest a person in place of another. It does not happen in a democratic society; it does not fit with the spirit and letters of our laws so that law cannot stand the test of constitutional and legal validity.”

(NAN)