A. Who are Christians?
Christians are persons who believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as
their Lord and personal Saviour or in other words, they are followers of Jesus Christ – Acts 16:31; 1 Corinthians 11:1.
There are Christians all over the world including Nigeria. Nigeria has a
huge of population of her citizens who are Christians and like other
Nigerians, they are bound by the secular laws governing the Nigerian
society and are entitled to enjoy privileges and rights that other
Nigerians enjoy.
B. What are human rights?
Human rights are entitlements that every person has on account of being a
human being. They are natural gifts to human beings and so, human rights
are not privileges bestowed on people by any government.
Governments only recognize and protect those rights.
Human rights are described as inalienable because they are entitlements
that cannot be taken away from human beings generally. Without human
rights, human beings are less than humans.
Human rights are contained in international and national legal documents
such as:
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948,
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Child's Rights Act, 2003,
- African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and
- Nigerian Constitution of 1999.
In Nigeria, the most authoritative document on human rights is the NIGERIAN
CONSTITUTION!
C. Human rights and the Bible
The phrase "human rights" or the word "rights" as we know it today cannot
directly be found in the Bible but if the history or origin of human rights
is traced, names of some Christian figures whose thoughts and ideas
inspired and shaped the development of human rights would appear.
These Christians understood that God created all human beings in His own
image and that because they exist in the image of God (Genesis
1:26-27), they deserve to be treated with dignity and all human beings,
irrespective of their race, gender, social status or religion, are equal.
The values of human dignity and equality of man gave birth to human rights
and popularisation of human rights eventually made slavery, colonialism,
apartheid and such inhuman practices unacceptable.
Human rights are universal and inherent to every human being.
Therefore, in the history of human rights and relationship with the Bible,
such Christian figures as St. Thomas Aquinas, William Wilberforce, and Lord
Shaftesbury stand out.
D. Why should Christians know their rights?
There are many reasons Christians need to know their rights and they stand
to gain a lot when they do. Some of the reasons why Christians should know
their rights are:
- To be able to exercise and enjoy their rights;
- To be able to defend their rights by seeking for legal remedies if breached or about to be breached by others;
- To know that others also have rights as they do and that they ought to respect others' rights in order to avoid being sued by them for damages;
- To prevent suffering human rights abuses from others due to their own ignorance.
E. Types of rights
In the Nigerian Constitution, there are two types or classes of human
rights but only one class is enforceable/justiciable. This means that it is
only when any right which belongs to that class is violated that Nigerians
can approach law courts for redress.
The two classes are –
Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy – Sections 13 to 23
This class of human rights can be found in Chapter II of the Nigerian Constitution and the rights here stretch from section 13 to 23. These rights include right to reasonable wages, right to medical care, right to safe environment etc. However, these rights are not enforceable in Nigerian courts because neither governments nor persons can be sued for the enjoyment of any of those rights by anybody. The same Constitution renders these rights unenforceable – section 6 (6) (c).
Fundamental Rights – sections 33 to 46
Fundamental rights are found under Chapter IV of the Nigerian Constitution
and they are the human rights that all Nigerians and non-Nigerians residing
in Nigeria can enjoy.
Christians, like other Nigerians, are entitled to these rights.
These rights can be enforced against governments or individuals if a
person's right is breached by such parties.
However, not all rights are recognised as Fundamental Rights under Chapter IV of the Nigerian Constitution. Right to food, right to medical care,
right to work and the likes are among human rights regarded as
unenforceable rights in Nigeria.
It must also be noted that even though fundamental human rights are
enforceable if breached, there are occasions when their breach will not
qualify for enforceability because rights are generally not absolute. The
Constitution provides for circumstances when a person's rights may be
justifiably deprived of him or her including right to life.
Enforceable rights in Nigerian courts or under the Nigerian law are those listed and explained below and all of them are contained in Chapter IV
(Sections 33 to 46).
If you think that your rights are breached and you wish to approach a court
in order to enforce your rights, make sure that what you have suffered fits
into any of the rights below before you approach a court of law for
remedies or else the court may not entertain your case/application for right enforcement. For instance, given that there is no right to vote or to be voted for among the rights provided under Chapter IV, a person who has suffered disenfranchisement will not be able to obtain remedies for breach
of rights in court.
1. Right to life – section 33
Meaning – Right to life simply means that nobody, not even the government,
is allowed to take another person's life, unless as allowed by the
Constitution or any other law.
In Bello V. AG Oyo State (1986) 12 SC 1, agents of Oyo State Government
carried out a sentence of death penalty passed on Nasiru Bello who was
convicted of armed robbery, while his appeal against his conviction and
sentence was still pending before the Federal Court of Appeal. Pained by
his unlawful and premature execution, the deceased's relations filed an
action in court to seek for damages on the basis of the violation of the
deceased's right to life. At the Supreme Court level, the apex Court agreed
that the deceased's right to life was unlawfully violated and awarded
damages in favour of his family members.
Assuming Nasiru Bello had been killed by private persons and not State
agents who thought they were carrying out lawful order, they would have
been charged and tried for murder and be sentenced to death, if found
guilty.
Limitation - As sacrosanct as right to life is, it is not absolute. Right
to life of a person can be legally taken away in any of the following
circumstances:
- When a person commits capital offence such as murder, armed robbery, treason, kidnapping (where loss of life is involved), and terrorism, death penalty will be imposed on such person after being tried by a court of law and he or she is found guilty of the alleged offence or offences.
- Where an attacker's life is lost in the hands of his victim while the latter is defending his own life or property.
- Where a person who is trying to escape from lawful custody is killed by law enforcement agent.
2. Right to dignity of human person – section 34
Meaning – Nobody should be subjected to torture or slavery or being forced
to perform forced or compulsory labour.
Anybody beaten or tortured by a law enforcement agent can sue the aggressor
on the basis of this right just as excessive corporal punishment inflicted
on another by a private person can lead to violation of this right or be a
basis for a criminal charge (or both) depending on the extent of injury
inflicted.
Limitation – It is not a breach of this right in case of persons who have
to undergo one-year compulsory national service, NYSC.
3. Right to personal liberty – section 35
Meaning – Every person is entitled not to be restrained or detained. Any
person arrested or detained unlawfully can approach a court for remedies.
Arresting or detaining a person who has not committed any crime known to
law is a violation of such person's right to personal liberty.
For this reason, it is unlawful to arrest and detain persons because they
are indebted to another person or bank or because they are disrespectful to
an influential personality in the society.
In fact, in many cases it has been decided by courts that Police is not a
debt collector and using Police officers for this purpose can land both the
user (creditor) and Police officers involved in court for violation of
right to personal liberty or any other right.
Limitation – A person can be arrested or detained if the person commits a
crime. However, a detention that originally begins as a lawful detention
may later turn to an unlawful one, if the detainee is held longer than the
period allowed by law.
A person detained has to be taken to court for trial within 24 or 48 hours and if that is practically impossible, then the person may be released on
bail.
4. Right to fair hearing– section 36
Meaning – This right requires that every person involved in any case –
whether civil or criminal – has to be given an opportunity to be heard and
to defend himself through an impartial and open trial in court. This right
also precludes a person from being a judge in a case in which he has
interest or he is the offended.
Any government employee sacked by government for any misconduct without
first being heard can approach a court of law for violation of his right to
fair hearing and set the unlawful termination of employment aside.
Many Nigerian students whose studentship was terminated in violation of
right to fair hearing have been known to have got their expulsion reversed
by courts (Garba & ors. v. University of Maiduguri (1986) 1 NWLR Pt. 18,
553).
Limitation – A person may lose his right to be heard if the person refuses
to attend court or the sitting of an administrative panel despite being
informed of a pending case or enquiry.
5. Right to private and family life – section 37
Meaning – This means persons are entitled to enjoy their privacy or secrecy
as long as no crime is being committed by them. Forcefully seizing a
person's phone and looking through the owner's messages and information is
a violation of this right.
Limitation – This right may be tampered with if there is reasonable ground
to believe that crime is being committed.
6. Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion – section 38
Meaning – This refers to people's right to have a religion or not to have
or to renounce their religion if they so wish.
This is the right relied on by Christians to worship God as it pleases them
in Nigeria as well as persons of other faiths. It is also the right that
Muslims rely on to demand for the wearing of hijab by Muslim females
attending public schools in Nigeria.
Limitation – This right does not allow a person to belong to a secret
society under the guise of exercising religious right. Belonging to a
secret society is a crime in Nigeria.
7. Right to freedom of expression and the press – Section 39
Meaning – This refers to people's right to hold opinions and to express
their opinions. This includes right of journalists to inform members of the
public in relation to happenings in the society and people's right to
interact through the social media platforms.
Limitation – Nobody can operate a broadcasting outlet except in accordance
with the rules laid down by the government.
8. Right to peaceful assembly and association – section 40
Meaning – This recognizes people's right to belong to any group of their
choice and it also includes right not to belong to any group. Political
parties, trade unions, community associations and professional associations
exist on the basis of this right. This also includes right to embark on
protests or demonstrations against anything that agitates people's minds.
Limitation – INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) reserves the
power not to recognize a group as a political party.
9. Right to freedom of movement – section 41
Meaning – This means that every Nigerian is entitled to move and reside
anywhere in Nigeria. No Nigerian will be expelled or be refused to enter
Nigeria.
It is therefore contrary to this right to seize a person's traveling
documents unless in the case of suspected of escaping out of the country in
order to avoid prosecution having committed an offence.
Limitation – However, a Nigerian may be extradited to another country, if
such Nigerian has a case to answer in that other country.
10. Right to freedom from discrimination – section 42
Meaning – This means that no Nigerian shall be deprived of any benefit or
be subjected to any pain on account of the person's sex, faith, social
status, ethnic group or political party affiliation.
Persons living with HIV/AIDS or any form of disability can rely on this
right to fight against any discrimination in employment and other areas.
Depriving a female child of inheriting property as commonly found in the
South-Eastern Nigeria (Ukeje v. Ukeje (2014) 11 NWLR Pt. 1418, 384) or
denying an "illegitimate" child of inheritance is a form of discrimination
which the Constitution forbids.
Limitation – A person may by law be disqualified from being appointed to a
public office e.g. persons below 35 years of age cannot vie for the
position of Nigerian presidency.
11. Right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria – Section 43
Meaning – Every Nigerian has right to own and acquire immovable property in
any part of the country.
Limitation – Nil.
12. Right to compensation upon compulsory acquisition of private property – Section 44
Meaning – Every Nigerian whose property is compulsorily acquired by
government must be compensated accordingly.
Limitation – Government can compulsorily take over private property without
compensation, if such property endangers public health or well-being.
F. How can Christians enforce their rights?
Section 46 of the Constitution empowers Nigerians including Christians to
approach a court of law and seek for remedies when their rights are about
to be breached or being breached or already breached.
©️ Kehinde Adegbite Esq is the Principal Partner of Kehinde Adegbite & Co,
Ibadan; +2348038556525 & [email protected] (2022)
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