No Police officer has the right to force you to write a statement when you are arrested and detained at the Police Station.
It should be noted that writing or giving statements in police custody should be a matter of free will and not compulsion.
You also have a right to remain silent and ask that your lawyer is around before you say or write anything and if you don’t have a lawyer, you can choose the person of your choice to be around before you say Anything.
According to the Nigeria Police Act, 2020 and the Administration Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, suspects have the right to decide whether they want to write statements.
Section 60 of the Nigeria Police Act and section 17 of the ACJA state that writing statements by a suspect should be voluntary. The Police Act states, “where a suspect is arrested on allegation of having committed an offense, his statement shall be taken, “If he so wishes to make a statement”.
