Section 7-10 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act

Section 7 to 10 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act is titled ‘parties to offences‘.

Section 7 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act

When an offence is committed, each of the following persons is deemed to have taken part in
committing the offence and to be guilty of the offence, and may be charged with actually committing it,
that is to say-

(a) every person who actually does the act or makes the omission which constitutes the offence;

(b) every person who does or omits to do any act for the purpose of enabling or aiding another
person to commit the offence;

(c) every person who aids another person in committing the offence;

(d) any person who counsels or procures any other person to commit the offence.

In the fourth case he may be charged either with himself committing the offence or with counselling
or procuring its commission. A conviction of counselling or procuring the commission of an offence
entails the same consequences in all respects as a conviction of committing the offence.

Any person who procures another to do or omit to do any act of such a nature that, if he had himself
done the act or made the omission, the act or omission would have constituted an offence on his part, is
guilty of an offence of the same kind, and is liable to the same punishment, as if he had himself done the
act or made the omission; and he may be charged with himself doing the act or making the omission.

Section 8 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act

When two or more persons form a common intention to prosecute an unlawful purpose in conjunction
with one another, and in the prosecution of such purpose an offence is committed of such a nature that its
commission was a probable consequence of the prosecution of such purpose, each of them is deemed to
have committed the offence.

Section 9 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act

When a person counsels another to commit an offence, and an offence is actually committed after such
counsel by the person to whom it is given, it is immaterial whether the offence actually committed is the
same as that counselled or a different one, or whether the offence is committed in the way counselled or
in a different way, provided in either case that the facts constituting the offence actually committed are a
probable consequence of carrying out the counsel.

In either case the person who gave the counsel is deemed to have counselled the other person to
commit the offence actually committed by him.

Section 10 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act

A person who receives or assists another who is, to his knowledge guilty of an offence, in order to
enable him to escape punishment, is said to become an accessory after the fact to the offence.

A wife does not become an accessory after the fact to an offence of which her husband is guilty by
receiving or; assisting him in order to enable him to escape punishment; nor by receiving or assisting, in
her husband’s presence and by his authority, another person who is guilty of an offence in the
commission of which her husband has taken part, in order to enable that other person to escape
punishment; nor does a husband become accessory after the fact to an offence of which his wife is guilty
by receiving or assisting her in order to enable her to escape punishment.

In this section the terms “wife” and “husband” mean respectively the wife and husband of a Christian
marriage.

Credit: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ng/ng025en.pdf