Section 391-400 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Section 391 to 400 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act is under Chapter 35 (Offences analogous to stealing) of the code.
Section 391 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Concealing registers
Any person who, with intent to defraud, conceals or takes from its place of deposit any register which is
authorised or required by law to be kept for authenticating or recording the title to any property, or for
recording births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, or burials, or a copy of any part of any such register which
is required by law to be sent to any public officer, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for
fourteen years.
Section 392 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Concealing wills
Any person who, with intent to defraud, conceals any testamentary instrument, whether the testator is
living or dead, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
Section 393 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Concealing deeds
Any person who, with intent to defraud, conceals the whole or part of any document which is evidence
of title to any land or estate in land, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.
Section 394 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Killing animals with intent to steal
Any person who kills any animal capable of being stolen with intent to steal the skin or carcass, or any
part of the skin or carcass, is guilty of an offence and is liable to the same punishment as if he had stolen
the animal.
Section 395 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Severing with intent to steal
Any person who makes anything movable with the intent to steal it, is guilty of an offence and is liable to
the same punishment as if he has stolen the thing after it had become movable.
Section 396 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Fraudulently dealing with minerals in mines
Any person who takes, conceals, or otherwise disposes of, any ore of any metal or mineral in or
about a mine, with intent to defraud any person, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for
three years.
Section 397 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Bringing stolen goods into Nigeria
Any person who, having at any place not in Nigeria obtained any property by any act which if it had been
done in Nigeria would have constituted the offence of stealing, and which is an offence under the laws
in force in the place where it was done, brings such property into the country, or has it in his possession
in Nigeria, is guilty of an offence, and is liable to the same punishment as if he had stolen it in Nigeria;
but so that the punishment does not exceed that which would be incurred for the same act under the
laws in force in the place where the act by which he obtained the property was done.
Section 398 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Fraudulent disposition of mortgaged goods
Any person who, being the mortgagor of mortgaged goods, removes or disposes of the goods without
the consent of the mortgagee and with intent to defraud, is guilty of a felony and is liable to
imprisonment for three years.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.
Section 399 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Definition of mortgaged goods; consent of mortgagee
In section 398 of this Code, the term “mortgaged goods” includes any goods and chattels of any kind,
and any live animals, and any progeny of any animals and any crops or produce of the earth, whether
growing or severed, which are subject for the time being to the provisions of the written instrument by
which a valid charge or lien is created upon them by way of security of any debt or obligation.
The consent of the mortgagee may be either express or implied from the nature of the property
mortgaged.
Section 400 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Fraudulent appropriation of power
Any person who fraudulently abstracts or diverts to his own use or to the use of any other person any
mechanical, illuminating, or electrical power derived from any machine apparatus, or substance, the
property of another person, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.
