Section 281-299 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Section 252 to 299 of the Nigerian Criminal Code is under Chapter 25 (Assaults and violence to the person generally; justification and excuse) of the Act.
Section 281 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Prevention of offences for which an offender may be arrested without warrant: prevention of
violence by persons of unsound mind
It is lawful for any person to use such force as is reasonably necessary in order to prevent the
commission of an offence which is such that the offender may be arrested without warrant; or in order
to prevent any act from being done as to which he believes, on reasonable grounds, that it would, if
done, amount to any such offence; or in order to prevent a person whom he believes, on reasonable
grounds, to be of unsound mind, from doing violence to any person or property.
Section 282 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Defence of dwelling‐house
It is lawful for any person who is in peaceable possession of a dwelling‐house, and for any person
lawfully assisting him or acting by his authority, to use such force as he believes, on reasonable grounds,
to be necessary in order to prevent the forcible breaking and entering of the dwelling‐house, either by
night or day, by any person whom he believes on reasonable grounds, to be attempting to break and
enter the dwelling‐house with intent to commit a felony or misdemeanor therein.
Section 283 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Provocation
The term “provocation”, used with reference to an offence of which an assault is an element, includes,
except as hereinafter stated, any wrongful act or insult of such nature as to be likely, when done to an
ordinary person, or in the presence of the ordinary person to another person who is under his
immediate care, or to whom he stands in a conjugal, parental, filial, or fraternal relation, or in the
relation of master or servant, to deprive him of the power of self‐control, and to induce him to assault
the person by whom the act or insult is done or offered.
When such an act or insult is done or offered by one person to another, or in the presence of another to
a person who is under the immediate care of that other, or to whom the latter stands in any such
relation as aforesaid, the former is said to give to the latter provocation for an assault.
A lawful act is not provocation to any person for an assault.
An act which a person does in consequence of excitement given by another person in order to induce
him to do the act, and thereby to furnish an excuse for committing an assault, is not provocation to that
person for an assault.
An arrest which is unlawful is not necessarily provocation for an assault, but it may be evidence of
provocation to a person who knows of the illegality.
Section 284 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Defence of provocation
A person is not criminally responsible for an assault committed upon a person who gives him
provocation for the assault, if he is in fact deprived by the provocation of the power of self‐control, and
acts upon it on the sudden and before there is time for his passion to cool; provided that the force used
is not disproportionate to the provocation, and is not intended, and is not such as is likely, to cause
death or grievous harm.
Whether any particular act or insult is such as to be likely to deprive an ordinary person of the power of
self‐control and to induce him to assault the person by whom the act or insult is done or offered, and
whether, in any particular case, the person provoked was actually deprived by the provocation of the
power of self‐control, and whether any force used is or is not disproportionate to the provocation, are
questions of fact.
Section 285 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Prevention of repetition of insult
It is lawful for any person to use such force as is reasonably necessary to prevent the repetition of an act
or insult of such a nature as to be provocation to him for an assault:
Provided that the force used is not intended and is not such as is likely, to cause death or grievous harm.
Section 286 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Self‐defence against unprovoked assault
When a person is unlawfully assaulted, and has not provoked the assault, it is lawful for him to use such
force to the assailant as is reasonably necessary to make effectual defence against the assault:
Provided that the force used is not intended, and is not such as is likely, to cause death or grievous
harm.
If the nature of the assault is such as to cause reasonable apprehension of death or grievous harm, and
the person using force by way of defence believes, on reasonable ground, that he cannot otherwise
preserve the person defended from death or grievous harm, it is lawful for him to use any such force to
the assailant as is necessary for defence, even though such force may cause death or grievous harm.
Section 287 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Self‐defence against provoked assault
When a person has unlawfully assaulted another or has provoked an assault from another, and that
other assaults him with such violence as to cause reasonable apprehension of death or grievous harm,
and to induce him to believe, on reasonable grounds, that it is necessary for his preservation from death
or grievous harm to use force in self‐defence, he is not criminally responsible for using any such force as
is reasonably necessary for such preservation, although such force may cause death or grievous harm.
This protection does not extend to a case in which the person using force, which causes death or
grievous harm, first began the assault with intent to kill or to do grievous harm to some person; nor to a
case in which the person using force which causes death or grievous harm endeavoured to kill or to do
grievous harm to some person before the necessity of so preserving himself arose; nor, in either case,
unless, before such necessity arose, the person using such force declined further conflict, and quitted it
or retreated from it as far as was practicable.
Section 288 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Aiding in self‐defence
In any case in which it is lawful for any person to use force in any degree for the purpose of defending
himself against an assault, it is lawful for any other person acting in good faith in his aid to use a like
degree of force for the purpose of defending such first‐mentioned person.
Section 289 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Defence of movable property against trespassers
It is lawful for any person who is in peaceable possession of any movable property, and for any person
acting by his authority, to use such force as is reasonably necessary in order to resist the taking of such
property by a trespasser, or in order to retake it from a trespasser, provided that he does not do harm
to the trespasser.
Section 290 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Defence of movable property with claim of right
When a person is in peaceable possession of any movable property under a claim of right, it is lawful for
him, and for any person acting by his authority, to use such force as is reasonably necessary in order to
defend his possession of the property, even against a person who is entitled by law to possession of the
property, provided that he does not do harm to such other person.
Section 291 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Defence of movable property without claim of right
When a person who is entitled by law to the possession of movable property, attempts to take from a
person who is in possession of the property, but who neither claims right to it, nor acts by the authority
of a person who claims right, and the person in possession resists him, it is lawful for the person so
entitled to possession to use force in order to obtain possession of the property, provided that he does
not do harm to the person in possession.
Section 292 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Defence of premises against trespassers: removal of disorderly persons
It is lawful for a person who is in peaceable possession of any land, structure, vessel or place, or who is
entitled to the control or management of any land, structure, vessel, or place, and for any person acting
by his authority, to use such force as is reasonably necessary in order to prevent any person from
wrongfully entering upon such land, structure, vessel, or place, or in order to remove therefrom a
person who wrongfully remains therein, provided that he does not do harm to such person.
It is lawful for a person who is in peaceable possession of any land, structure, vessel, or place, or who is
entitled to the control or management of any land, structure, vessel, or place, and for any person acting
by his authority, to use force in order to remove therefrom any person who conducts himself in a
disorderly manner therein, provided that he does not do him harm.
The term “place” includes any part of an enclosure or structure, whether separated from the rest of the
enclosure or structure, by a partition, fence, rope, or any other means, or not.
Section 293 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Defence of possession of real property or vessel with claim of right
When a person is in peaceable possession of any land, structure, or vessel, with a claim of right, it is
lawful for him, and for any person acting by his authority, to use such force as is reasonably necessary in
order to defend his possession, even against a person who is entitled by law to the possession of the
property provided that he does not do harm to such person.
Section 294 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Exercise of right of way or easement
When a person who claims to be lawfully entitled to enter upon land for the exercise of a right of way or
other easement or profit, enters upon the land for the purpose of exercising such right of way, or
easement or profit, after notice that his right to use such way or take such profit is disputed by the
person in possession of the land, or having entered persists in his entry after such notice, it is lawful for
the person in possession, and for any person acting by his authority, to use such force as is reasonably
necessary for the purpose of making the person so entering desist from the entry, provided that he does
not do him harm.
Section 295 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Correction of child, servant, etc.
A blow or other force, not in any case extending to a wound or grievous harm, may be justified for the
purpose of correction as follows‐
(1) a father or mother may correct his or her legitimate or illegitimate child, being under sixteen
years of age, or any guardian or person acting as a guardian, his ward, being under sixteen years of age,
for misconduct or disobedience to any lawful command;
(2) a master may correct his servant or apprentice, being under sixteen years of age, for
misconduct or default in his duty as such servant or apprentice;
(3) the master of a ship may correct any person on board his ship who is bound to perform any
manual labour, for misconduct or disobedience to any lawful command;
(4)a father or mother or guardian, or a person acting as a guardian, may delegate to any person
whom he or she entrusts permanently or temporarily with the governance or custody of his or her child
or ward on his or her own authority for correction, including the power to determine in what cases
correction ought to be inflicted; and such a delegation shall be presumed, except in so far as it may be
expressly withheld, in the case of a schoolmaster or a person acting as a schoolmaster, in respect of a
child or ward;
(5) a person who is authorised to inflict correction as in this section of this Code mentioned may,
in any particular case, delegate to any fit person the infliction of such correction; and
(6) no correction can be justified which is unreasonable in kind or in degree, regard being had to
the age and physical and mental condition of the person on whom it is inflicted; and no correction can
be justified in the case of a person who, by reasons of tender years or otherwise, is incapable of
understanding the purpose for which it is inflicted.
Section 296 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Use of force for preserving order on board a vessel
The master of a vessel, or any person acting by his order, may justify the use of any such force against
any person onboard the vessel as is necessary for suppressing any mutiny or disorder on board the
vessel, whether among officers, seamen, or passengers, whereby the safety of the vessel, or of any
person therein or about to enter or quitting the same, is likely to be endangered, or the master is
threatened to be subjected to the commands of the other person; and may kill any person who is guilty
of or abets such mutiny or disorder, if the safety of the vessel, or the preservation of any such person as
aforesaid, cannot be otherwise secured.
Section 297 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Surgical operations
A person is not criminally responsible for performing in good faith and with reasonable care and skill a
surgical operation upon any person for his benefit, or upon an unborn child for the preservation of the
mother’s life, if the performance of the operation is reasonable, having regard to the patient’s state at
the time and to all the circumstances of the case.
Section 298 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Excessive force
Any person authorised by law to use force is criminally responsible for any excess, according to the
nature and quality of the act which constitutes the excess.
Section 299 of the Nigerian Criminal Code
Consent to death immaterial
Consent by a person to the causing of his own death does not affect the criminal responsibility of any
person by whom such death is caused.
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