Section 401-409 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Section 401 to 409 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act is under Chapter 36 (Stealing with violence: extortion by threats) of the code.
Section 401 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Definition of robbery
Any person who steals anything and, at or immediately before or immediately after the time of stealing
it, uses or threatens to use actual violence to any person or property in order to obtain or retain the
thing stolen or to prevent or overcome resistance to its being stolen or retained, is said to be guilty of
robbery.
Section 402 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Punishment of robbery
(1) Any person who commits the offence of robbery shall upon conviction be sentenced to
imprisonment for not less than 21 years.
(2) If‐
(a) any offender mentioned in subsection (1) of this section is armed with any firearms or
any offensive weapon or any obnoxious or chemical materials or is in company with any
person so armed; or
(b) at or immediately before or immediately after the time of robbery the said offender
wounds any person,
the offender shall upon conviction be sentenced to death.
Section 403 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Punishment for attempted robbery, etc.
(1) Any person who with intent to steal anything, assaults any other person and at or
immediately after the time of assault, uses or threatens to use actual violence to any other person or
any property in order to obtain the thing intended to be stolen shall upon conviction be sentenced to
imprisonment for not less than fourteen years but not more than twenty years.
[1970 No. 47.]
(2) If‐
(a) any offender mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, is armed with any firearms or
any offensive weapon or is in company with any other person so armed; or
(b) at or immediately before or immediately after the time of the assault the offender
wounds or uses any other personal violence to any person,
the offender shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for life with or without whipping.
(3) Any person found in any public place in possession of any firearms, whether real or
imitation, and in circumstances reasonably indicating that the possession of the firearms is with intent
to the immediate or eventual commission by that person or any other person of any offence under
section 402 of this Code shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than fourteen
years or more than twenty years.
Section 403A of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Conspiracy to commit robbery
Any person who conspires with any person to commit an offence under section 402 of this Code,
whether or not he is present when the offence is committed or attempted to be committed, shall be
deemed to be guilty of the offence as a principal offender and shall be punished accordingly.
Section 403B of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Definition of firearms and offensive weapons
For the purposes of sections 402, 403 and 403A of this Code”
firearms” includes any canon, gun, flint‐lock gun, revolver, pistol, explosive or ammunition or
other firearm, whether whole or in detached pieces;
“offensive weapon” means any article, apart from a firearm, made or adapted for use for
causing injury to the person or intended by the person having it for such use by him and it includes an
air gun, air pistol, bow and arrow, spear, cutlass, matchet, dagger, cudgel, or any piece of wood, metal,
glass or stone capable of being used as an offensive weapon.
Section 404 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Public servants demanding property, etc.
(1) Any person who, being employed in the public service of Nigeria, or in that of any other
government, corruptly and under colour of his employment‐
(a) demands or takes property from any person; or
(b) compels any person to sell any property at other than its fair market value; or
(c) obtains lodging from and against the will of any person without payment or for
inadequate payment; or
(d) compels, whether partially or wholly for his own profit, any person to work without
payment or for inadequate payment,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years.
(2) Any person who, falsely representing himself by words, conduct, or otherwise, to be a
person employed in the public service of Nigeria, or of any other government, or to be an agent of or act
under the authority of, the government, unlawfully and in such assumed character‐
(a) does any of the acts or things specified in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of subsection
(1) of this section; or
(b) compels or orders any person to hand any property over to any other person, whether
such property does or does not rightly belong, or is or is not rightly due, to the lastnamed
person,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years.
(3) Any person attempting, or inciting, soliciting, counselling, procuring, aiding, or abetting any
person to commit any of the offences enumerated in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, is guilty of a
felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years.
Section 405 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Assault with intent to steal
Any person who assaults any person with intent to steal anything, is guilty of a felony and is liable to
imprisonment for three years.
Section 406 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Demanding property with menaces with intent to steal
Any person who, with intent to steal anything, demands it from any person with threats of any injury or
detriment of any kind to be caused to him, either by the offender or by any other person, if the demand
is not complied with, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.
Section 407 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Demanding property by written threats
Any person who, with intent to extort or gain anything from any person, and knowing the contents of
the writing, causes any person to receive any writing demanding anything from any person without
reasonable or probable cause, and containing threats of any injury or detriment of any kind to be caused
to any person, either by the offender or any other person, if the demand is not complied with, is guilty
of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
Section 408 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Attempts at extortion by threats
Any person who, with intent to extort or gain anything from any person‐
(1) accuses or threatens to accuse any person of committing any felony or misdemeanor, or of
offering or making any solicitation or threat to any person as an inducement to commit or permit the
commission of any felony or misdemeanor; or
(2) threatens that any person shall be accused by any other person of any felony or
misdemeanor or of any such act; or
(3) knowing the contents of the writing, causes any person to receive any writing containing any
such accusation or threat as aforesaid,
is guilty of a felony and if the accusation or threat of accusation is of‐
(a) an offence for which the punishment of death or imprisonment for life may be inflicted;
or
(b) any of the offences defined in Chapter 21 of this Code, or an attempt to commit any of
such offences; or
(c) an assault with intent to have carnal knowledge of any person against the order of
nature, or an unlawful and indecent assault upon a male person; or
(d) an attempt to commit the offence of rape, or an assault with intent to commit the
offence of rape, or an unlawful and indecent assault upon a woman or girl; or
(e) a solicitation or threat offered or made to any person as an inducement to commit or
permit the commission of any of the offences aforesaid, the offender is liable to
imprisonment for fourteen years.
In any other case, the offender is liable to imprisonment for three years.
It is immaterial whether the person accused or threatened to be accused has or has not committed the
offence or act of which he is accused or threatened to be accused.
Section 409 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Procuring execution of deeds, etc., by threats
Any person who, with intent to defraud, and by means of any unlawful violence to, or restraint of, the
person of another, or by means of any threat of violence or restraint to be used to the person of
another, or by means of accusing or threatening to accuse any person of committing any felony or
misdemeanor, or by offering or making any solicitation or threat to any person as an inducement to
commit or permit the commission of any offence, compels or induces any person‐
(a) to execute, make, accept, endorse, alter, or destroy, the whole or any part of any
valuable security; or
(b) to write, impress, or affix, any name or seal upon or to any paper or parchment, in
order that it may be afterwards made or converted into or used or dealt with as a
valuable security,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
