AJH

Article Details

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): December

EFCC Public Display of Suspects in Nigeria: Examining Constitutional Rights, Legal Limits, Sanctions, and Compensation

https://doi.org/10.35912/ajh.v6.n1.p15-29.2026

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the constitutional and statutory boundaries that govern the public display of suspects by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria, with particular attention to the rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing, privacy and the presumption of innocence, and to the sanctions and remedies that arise where such display becomes unlawful.

Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative documentary and doctrinal research design, drawing on the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the EFCC Act, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the Anti-Torture Act 2017, judicial decisions, institutional publications and recent national and international scholarship, supported by comparative analysis of the United Kingdom, Germany, Kenya and South Africa.

Results: The findings show that investigative authority to photograph and identify a suspect does not automatically confer an unrestricted power to publicize that image, that public display can implicate several constitutional rights simultaneously, and that Nigerian law already provides declaratory, injunctive and compensatory remedies whose practical accessibility nonetheless remains limited.

Conclusions: A credible anti-corruption mandate and the protection of suspects' rights are complementary rather than competing objectives, and a rights-based publicity protocol would strengthen both institutional legitimacy and public trust.

Limitations: The documentary design does not capture primary empirical data from affected suspects, EFCC officers or the courts.

Contributions: The study offers a comparative doctrinal framework and practical recommendations that can guide EFCC communication policy, judicial reasoning and legislative reform.

Keywords

Compensation Constitutional Rights EFCC Presumption Of Innocences Public Display Of Suspect

How to Cite

Sule, M. A. (2026). EFCC Public Display of Suspects in Nigeria: Examining Constitutional Rights, Legal Limits, Sanctions, and Compensation. Annals of Justice and Humanity, 6(1), 15–29. https://doi.org/10.35912/ajh.v6.n1.p15-29.2026

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