Courtroom orders IG, Police to reveal information on classification of records

A Federal excessive court in Abuja has ordered the Nigerian Police and Inspector common of Police to disclose to Media Rights Agenda, MRA, information when it comes to practices and techniques for the classification of documents and files held with the aid of the Police. Trial judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba gave the directive in his judgment in a go well with by means of MRA towards the Police over its refusal to provide MRA with the expertise requested by means of the non-governmental business enterprise on February 23, 2016, pursuant to the freedom of understanding Act, 2011. Within the request for information, MRA requested, amongst other matters, for small print of internal insurance policies, practice directives, and standing orders, in spite of what they are called, that guide the classification and declassification of expertise within the custody of the police as good as what the phases of classification are and who has the authority to classify information. Nonetheless, the Police did not furnish the requested information. In the suit with the aid of MRA, its lawyer, Mr Godwin Chigbu, against the Nigerian Police, the Inspector general of Police and lawyer general of the Federation, MRA sought the following reliefs: *A announcement that the failure of the Police and the Inspector-basic of Police to furnish MRA with the know-how requested by means of its letter of February 23, 2016 quantities to a wrongful denial of understanding underneath the liberty of knowledge Act, 2011; and *An order compelling the Police and the Inspector-general of Police, jointly and severally, to inside seven days of the judgment within the swimsuit, furnish MRA with the know-how requested. The Police had adversarial the go well with, claiming that it on no account denied MRA the know-how however that there was once a delay in the liberate of the know-how brought about via the chain of command within the Police, which must be followed from the easiest rank of Inspector normal of Police to the least rank of constable. The attorney-common of the Federation additionally requested the court to strike out the go well with on account that MRA did not expose any intent of action and that MRA was once no longer a juristic man or woman competent of suing and being sued. The attorney-common also contended that MRA’s request to the Police used to be now not for expertise but that the organization used to be simply asking the Inspector-common of Police to lecture it on the approach for classifying a record. Dismissing the legal professional-general’s objection on the bottom that MRA’s application was once no longer a request for information, Justice Dimgba held that the whole essence of the FOI Act is “to provide entry to information in something kind the understanding maybe” to the citizenry.