8

Differential Treatments of Prison Inmates and Implications on Nigerian Criminal Justice System

In recent years, series of protests have broken out from various prisons across Nigeria as fallout of differential treatments of prisoners and poor condition of correctional facilities. Questions have been raised about the rationality of the disparate treatment of inmates along socioeconomic lines. This present study examined the reported segregation of inmates within the context of the correctional good of prison system. From the inductive analysis of 49 qualitative interviews with ex-inmates of prisons, prison officials and legal practitioners, a pattern of unofficial discrimination of prisoners along socioeconomic lines emerged. Findings reveal that selection of inmates for disparate treatment is corruption-laden. It is submitted that in order to progressively realise and improve the administration of justice and the prison system in Nigeria, the government and other stakeholders should review reports of panel of inquiry into the country’s prison system, establish prison-reporting scheme for inmates, and rehabilitate prison facilities.

Aborisade, R.A. (2019) Differential Treatments of Prison Inmates and Implications on Nigerian Criminal Justice System, Ibadan Journal of Sociology, 9 (1) 29-46.

6

“Women’s Inhumanity Towards Women?” Treatment of Female Crime Suspects by Female Officers of the Nigerian Police

This article presents findings from a new qualitative study of female offenders’ interactions with Nigerian policewomen. Against the position of policing literature and feminists and gender advocates that abusive treatment of female arrestees is a function of policemen’s misconduct, this study exposes the active roles played by policewomen in inflicting violence on female detainees. We argue therefore that the mere increase in number and participation of policewomen in the criminal justice system will not address the violent treatment of female suspects; rather, the restructuring of the power dynamics in the police that currently subjects policewomen to the definitions, acceptance, and approval of male-dominant superiors is required.

Aborisade, R.A. & Oni, S.F. (2020): “Women’s Inhumanity Towards Women?” Treatment of Female Crime Suspects by Female Officers of the Nigerian Police, Criminal Justice Ethics, 39(1) 54-73.

2

“Crimes of the Crime Fighters”: Nigerian Police Officers’ Sexual and Physical Abuses against Female Arrestees

This article investigates incidences of the breach of human rights, constitutional provisions, criminal code, and police regulatory acts by Nigerian police officers in the course of arresting, detaining, and interrogating female suspects. A mixed-method approach was deployed to collect and analyze quantitative data from 186 female inmates, of which 27 inmates were interviewed, at the Female Maximum and Medium Security Prisons, Lagos. Findings indicate low compliance with the Anti-Torture Act and other constitutional provisions. Infractions against the criminal code, like sexual assault, intimidation, and deception, were reported. Education, training, and monitoring of officers, with strategic development of policing that will engender intelligence-based investigation is suggested to address these violations.

 

Aborisade, R.A. & Oni, S.F. (2020) “Crimes of the Crime Fighters”: Nigerian Police Officers’ Sexual and Physical Abuses against Female Arrestees, Women & Criminal Justice, 30(4) 243-263 DOI: 10.1080/08974454.2019.1632774

5

Gender and Sentencing in the Nigerian Justice System: Are Women Given Preferential Treatments?

In contemporary criminology, gender differences in criminal court outcomes for women and men are almost axiomatic. The literature has offered significant data on the impact of gender on sentence severity. However, most of these studies have been based in the United States and other developed societies, while primarily focusing on the effect that offender characteristics have on sentencing outcomes. Drawing from the theoretical position of judicial paternalism, this present study, explored gender-implied extra-legal factors that interplay in the process of sentencing in federal courts. Findings from the analyse of qualitative accounts of federal high court judges, legal counsels, police officers and prison officials, are broadly consistent with large body of literature in the field. In particular, gender related conditions like being in a state of pregnancy, nursing mothers, single mother or lone parenthood, and widowhood were found to facilitate disparate sentencing. Future research directions from this analysis are discussed.

Aborisade, R.A. & Adedayo, S.S. (2020): Gender and Sentencing in the Nigerian Justice System: Are Women Given Preferential Treatments?, Gender and Behaviour, 18(2) 15581-11590.

4

Techniques and controversies in the Interrogation of Suspects by the Nigerian Police

This paper focuses on the reoccurring controversies that have trailed the techniques of Nigeria Police in investigating, interrogating and eliciting confessions from crime suspects in the country. Human rights organisations and other stakeholders have continued to report that “confessions” obtained from suspects through torture by the police are still admissible and used in courts as a basis for conviction. Drawing from Charles Tittle‟s Control Balance Theory, this study examined the perspectives of law enforcement officers on suspects‟ treatment and interrogation techniques while under their custody. A qualitative survey of 37 investigators purposively selected from 12 police stations, four divisional police headquarters in Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu, as well as the Ogun State Police Headquarters was conducted. Police investigators debunked engaging in indiscriminate arrests in public areas, stating that they only act on prior information. Provisions of basic needs to detainees are grossly inadequate as their welfare is left to the benevolence of police officers, complainants and suspects‟ families. The interrogation tactics deployed by the investigators include throwing accusations at suspects, identifying contradictions in the suspect‟s account, winning the trust of suspects to get confession, wearing out suspects through lengthy interrogation, use of threats and deception. However, all investigators denied the use of physical force and torture in eliciting confession from suspects. High-pressure investigative tactics by the police should be addressed through the deployment of modern investigative techniques, equipping the police appropriately for best practice investigations and ensuring effective police accountability and control system nationwide.

Aborisade, R.A. and Adedayo, S.S. (2020) Techniques and controversies in the Interrogation of Suspects by the Nigerian Police, Journal of African Social Studies, 1(2) 27-39.

3

Female Offenders as Victims of Gendered Violence by Officers of the Nigeria Police

In the mainstream media and sociological research, the issues of police brutality and use of force have remained prevalent. However, in spite of the appreciable attention given to police brutality against male citizens in international headlines and scholarly research, female victims have been relatively ignored. The aim of this paper is to explore the experience of female offenders with the police from the point of arrest through custody. Using a mixed-method research design, participants were drawn from inmates of the Female Maximum and Medium Security Prison, Lagos. One hundred and eighty-six respondents completed questionnaires, while 27 interviews were conducted. Findings indicate that participants were subjected to a variety of physical, emotional, and sexual violence, including torture, sexual assault and intimidation, denials of essential needs, and unwarranted punishments. The pervasion of violence and abuse by police officers on female detainees is one of the consequences of the perennial deficiencies of Nigeria police to carry out intelligence-based investigation. The increase in well-trained female personnel, gender-sensitive treatment of suspects and offenders, capacity building on intelligence-based investigation, effective human right awareness, regulation and proper monitoring of officers, enhancement of professionalism, adequate funding, and provision of logistics and equipment are suggested.

 

Aborisade, R.A. & Oni, S.F. (2021): Female Offenders as Victims of Gendered Violence by Officers of the Nigeria Police, Victims & Offenders, 16(8), 1182–1204 DOI:10.1080/15564886.2021.1871991.

2

Pandemic policing and police sexual misconduct: voices of women sexually abused by COVID-19 enforcement officers

While global attention has been drawn to the reported spike in the rate of gender-based violence (GBV) occasioned by COVID-19 restrictions, there exists a clear gap in knowledge about incidences of GBV perpetrated by police officers in the course of enforcing COVID-19 laws. Drawing from the Nigerian experience, this qualitative study presents the accounts of 83 sexually victimized women. From the thematic analysis, their narratives of how COVID-19 lockdown facilitated their vulnerability to police sexual violence (PSV) were documented. Although the various forms of sexual violence experienced by the women during the lockdown are similar to pre-COVID PSV, in the current study, there appear to be more varieties of sexual violence, diverse tactics used by perpetrators, more factors determining vulnerability, and a greater opportunity structure for PSV. The findings highlight the need for revisiting existing models of PSV and reimagining governments’ policies in uncertain times to ensure public safety.

 

Aborisade, R.A. (2022) Pandemic policing and police sexual misconduct: voices of women sexually abused by COVID-19 enforcement officers. Women and Criminal Justice, DOI: 10.1080/08974454.2022.2116965

1

On the ‘darkness of dark figure’ of sexual crimes: Survivors’ rape reporting experiences with the Nigerian police

While extensive studies have identified the influence of social perception and victims’ self-blame as factors responsible for underreporting of rape, fewer studies have explored victims’ interaction with police officers and possible impacts this could have on victims’ reporting behavior. Therefore, this study explores rape victims’ interaction with officers of the Nigerian Police in the course of seeking justice. Twenty-seven victims of rape who interacted with police and six key informants working in women advocacy groups were interviewed in a qualitative study. Findings indicated that participants perceived police officers to have engaged in victim-blaming, slut-shaming, lack of empathy, refusal to cooperate with counsel, and delaying investigative processes. Evidence from the study suggests that police officers manifest influence from social stereotypes and rape scripts in their perception of rape victims. The study suggests the deployment of a special anti-sexual violence unit within the police, consisting of well-trained and skilled personnel in sexual crimes.

Aborisade, R.A. (2023) On the ‘darkness of dark figure’ of sexual crimes: Survivors’ rape reporting experiences with the Nigerian police, International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 73 (100576) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2023.100576