Journals
THE CORONER'S PLACE (TCP)...
Nationwide State Research by Access to Justice of Coroner Laws Report that Coroner Laws are Existing, but are Practically Dead Letter Laws
In North-Central Region, Coroner Laws Lie Fallow, But Warm Enthusiasm Trails Access to Justice Campaign for its Resuscitation
P lateau and Nassarawa States have legislations establishing Coroner procedures, based on CAP. 27, Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963. Bauchi State has enacted its Coroners Law, CAP. 36 Laws of Bauchi State 1989. Under Coroner laws in Plateau and Nassarawa States, inquests into violent or unnatural deaths may be undertaken by traditional levels of authority – district, village or hamlet heads, or Magistrates, according to how the Governor categorizes a particular locale under the Coroners' law. In areas covered by occupants of traditional office, such as district, village or hamlet heads, designated heads are required to inform the appropriate Police Officer of a death requiring an inquest, and then proceed to where the body is, and in the presence of two or more persons summoned for that purpose, make an investigation and draw up a report of the apparent cause of death.
Inquests by Magistrates are required to be conducted in a more formal and orthodox form, and become necessary whenever there is information indicating that the body of a deceased person lies within jurisdiction, if the death is suspected to have been violent and unnatural, or, when sudden, the cause is unknown. Inquests are also necessary where deaths take place in a lunatic asylum, and in police or prison custody. Information about investigable deaths may first be given to a Police or Native Authority, and that authority is under duty to notify a coroner of the fact of death. A Coroner conducting an inquest shall take evidence on oath in respect of the identity of the deceased person and the time, place and manner of his or her death. The Coroner can summon and compel the attendance of witnesses to give evidence or tender any documents at the inquest; is not bound by any rule of evidence; can sit on any day including public holidays; may sit in camera; may prevent the burial or cremation of the body of the deceased person and where the body is buried without an inquest, may order the exhumation of the body for an examination. The verdict of a Coroner is required to be in writing, and contain findings such as the identity of the deceased, how, when and where the deceased came by his or her death, and the offence to which death is attributable.
Despite large-scale internal conflicts resulting in the violent deaths of many people in this region, and other deaths commonly referred to in police parlance as SUD (Sudden and Unnatural Death) no effort has been made to reinstate inquest procedures; however, government has been, in few cases, ready to set up judicial commissions of inquiry to investigate political or ethnic clashes resulting in massive deaths. Ignorance of coroner procedures is also pervasive. In Plateau State, of 40 questionnaires administered on members of a vigilante group, 95 per cent had never heard about the Coroners Law and did not know if Plateau State has a Coroners Law. Among 30 district, village and hamlet heads surveyed, 85 per cent do not know who a Coroner is. 35 per cent believe that they have powers to investigate the causes of any unnatural, violent or suspicious death within their jurisdiction while 45 percent think that they do not have the powers to investigate the causes of such deaths. It is not only vigilante operatives that have demonstrated this unfamiliarity with the Coroners law; ignorance of the law is widespread even among those responsible for safety and security. For example the State Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, as well as the officers of the Corps did not know anything about the Coroners Law despite the onerous duties placed on them by law to maintain peace, prevent and report criminal activities in the State. Access to Justice Researcher reports that "There is no evidence that District Heads, Village Heads and Ward Heads apply the provisions of the Coroners law by way of investigating causes of deaths; since they cannot apply what they do not know"
In Federal Capital Territory Abuja, the Federal Coroner's Law Remains Stillborn and Inert.
Coroners are established for the Federal Capital Territory Abuja by the Coroners Act CAP. 489, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990. Provisions of this Act are similar to those applicable in Plateau and Nassarawa States. In practice, upon a violent death, a report to that effect is made to a Magistrate in Form B in the First schedule to the Act for his or her endorsement, which he or she does. Form B contains the particulars of the deceased person. The Coroner then fills in Form C authorizing a post-mortem examination to be conducted by a medical practitioner. In practice, after the post-mortem examination is conducted, a report is made to the Magistrate using another form. The post-mortem examination is always invariably performed, but the Magistrate never sees the results and never bothers to do so. Thereafter, the Magistrate authorizes the burial of the body of the deceased person. In practice, no burial can take place without such an authorization. Where the relations of the deceased cannot be traced, the Abuja Environmental Agency is handed over the body of the deceased person for burial.
