Habeas corpus ad faciendum et recipiendum (also called Habeas Corpus) is a Latin phrase which means "Show me the body". Habeas corpus is a writ issued by a court directing one who holds another in custody to produce the person before the court for the purpose of determining if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful.
Habeas Corpus is a prerogative order of court securing the appearance of a person who has been detained in any ( be it police, individual, military) custody. The purpose of the order is to determine the legal justification for which a person has been detained or held incommunicado.
The writ of habeas corpus was described by William Blackstone as a "great and efficacious writ in all manner of illegal confinement". If there is no legal justification for the detention, the detainee will be ordered to be released. Once a writ of Habeas Corpus has been issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, refusal to produce the detainee is tantamount to contempt of court for which the detaining authority can be punished.
Habeas Corpus is one of such legal processes that preserve the integrity in the Right to Personal Liberty and the Right to Fair Hearing as enshrined in section 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is particularly enshrined in Section 35(5)(b) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, as amended. See Re Mohammed Olayori & Ors (1969) 2 All N.L.R, Alade v. the Federal Republic of Nigeria
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