CLO to police: Remove ‘bail is free’ inscription from stations because bail not free

The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has called for removal of the inscription “Bail is Free’’ from police stations and law courts, saying that it is misleading.
In a statement in Lagos on Tuesday, the state Chairman of CLO, Mr Ehi Omokhuale, said that bail had not been free, and that the public should be properly informed.
“The CLO upholds that the “Bail is Free’’ inscription in our police stations and law courts is not only an institutionalised fraud against the citizenry, but a practice that makes our human rights stance a laughing stock in the eyes of the civilised world.
“We demand, therefore, that bail fees charged by the police and our law courts for the different offences should be published and the “Bail is Free’’ inscription replaced with “Bail Fees’’ Omokhuale said.
He also called on the state police command, local governments in the state and Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) to curb extortion among their men and agents.
Omokhuale also urged the National Union of Road Transport Workers and Road Employers Association of Nigeria to also call their men to order.
“Extortion on Lagos roads has become unceasingly unnerving and an eyesore.
“Police road blocks mounted with sticks, drums tyres and firewood at various odd parts of the city is far from being the standard mode of policing.
“The crude operational style sometimes used by LASTMA and Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) personnel, leaves much to be desired and has no place in a modern city structure,’’ he said.