Section 410-433 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Section 410 to 433 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act is under Chapter 37 (Burglary: housebreaking: and like offences), chapter 38 (Obtaining property by false pretences: cheating), and Chapter 39 (Receiving property stolen or fraudulently obtained and like offences) of the Code.
CHAPTER 37 – Burglary: Housebreaking: and like offences
Section 410 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Definitions
A person who breaks any part, whether external or internal, of a building, or opens by unlocking, pulling,
pushing, lifting, or any other means whatever, any door, window, shutter, cellar flap, or other thing,
intended to close or cover an opening in a building, or an opening giving passage from one part of a
building to another, is said to break the building.
A person is said to enter a building as soon as any part of his body or any part of any instrument used by
him is within the building.
A person who obtains entrance into a building by means of any threat or artifice used for that purpose,
or by collusion with any person in the building, or who enters any chimney or other aperture of the
building permanently left open for any necessary purpose, but not intended to be ordinarily used as a
means of entrance, is deemed to have broken and entered the building.
Section 411 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Housebreaking: burglary
Any person who‐
(1) breaks and enters the dwelling‐house of another with intent to commit a felony therein; or
(2) having entered the dwelling‐house of another with intent to commit a felony therein, or
having committed a felony in the dwelling‐house of another, breaks out of the dwelling‐house,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
If the offence is committed in the night, the offender is liable to imprisonment for life.
Section 412 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Entering dwelling‐house with intent to commit felony
Any person who enters or is in the dwelling‐house of another with intent to commit a felony therein, is
guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
If the offence is committed in the night, the offender is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
Section 413 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Breaking into building and committing felony
Any person who‐
(1) breaks and enters a schoolhouse, shop, warehouse, store, office, or counting‐house, or a
building which is adjacent to a dwelling‐house and occupied with it but is not part of it, and commits a
felony therein; or
(2) having committed a felony in a schoolhouse, shop, warehouse, store, office, or countinghouse,
or in any such other building as last mentioned, breaks out of the building,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
Section 414 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Breaking into building with intent to commit felony
Any person who breaks and enters a schoolhouse, shop, warehouse, store, office, or counting‐house, or
a building which is adjacent to a dwelling‐house and occupied with it but is not part of it, with intent to
commit a felony therein, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
Section 415 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Breaking into place of worship and committing felony
Any person who breaks and enters a building ordinarily used for religious worship and commits a felony
therein, or having committed a felony in any such building breaks out of it, is guilty of a felony and is
liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
Section 416 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Breaking into place of worship with intent to commit felony
Any person who breaks and enters a building ordinarily used for religious worship, with intent to commit
a felony therein, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
Section 417 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Persons found armed, etc., with intent to commit felony
Any person who is found in any of the following circumstances(
a) being armed with any dangerous or offensive weapon or instrument, and being so
armed with intent to break or enter a dwelling‐house, and to commit a felony therein;
(b) being armed as aforesaid by night, and being so armed with intent to break or enter
any building whatever, and to commit a felony therein;
(c) having in his possession by night without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on him,
any instrument of housebreaking;
(d) having in his possession by day, any such instrument with intent to commit a felony;
(e) having his face masked or blackened or being otherwise disguised, with intent to
commit a felony;
(f) being in any building whatever by night with intent to commit a felony therein; or
(g) being in any building whatever by day with intent to commit a felony therein, and
having taken precautions to conceal his presence,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.
If the offender has been previously convicted of a felony relating to property, he is liable to
imprisonment for seven years.
CHAPTER 38 – Obtaining property by false pretences: cheating
Section 418 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Definition
Any representation made by words, writing, or conduct, of a matter of fact, either past or present,
which representation is false in fact and which the person making it knows to be false or does not
believe to be true, is a false pretence.
Section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Obtaining goods by false pretences
Any person who by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, obtains from any other person
anything capable of being stolen, or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable
of being stolen, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.
If the thing is of the value of one thousand naira or upwards, he is liable to imprisonment for
seven years.
It is immaterial that the thing is obtained or its delivery is induced through the medium of a contract
induced by the false pretence.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant unless found committing the offence.
Section 419A of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Obtaining credit by false pretences or other fraud
(1) Any person who by any false pretence or by means of any other fraud obtains credit for
himself or any other person‐
[1966 No. 84.]
(a) in incurring any debt or liability; or
(b) by means of an entry in a debtor and creditor account between the person giving and
the person receiving credit,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.
(2) The offender cannot be arrested without warrant unless found committing the offence.
419B. Presumption as to false pretences in certain circumstances
Where in any proceedings for an offence under section 419 or 4l9A of this Code it is proved that the
accused‐
[1966 No. 84.]
(a) obtained or induced the delivery of anything capable of being stolen; or
(b) obtained credit for himself or any other person, by means of a cheque that, when
presented for payment within a reasonable time, was dishonoured on the ground that
no funds or insufficient funds were standing to the credit of the drawer of the cheque in
the bank on which the cheque was drawn,
the thing or its delivery shall be deemed to have been obtained or induced, or the credit shall be
deemed to have been obtained, by a false pretence, unless the court is satisfied by evidence that when
the accused issued the cheque he had reasonable grounds for believing, and did in fact believe, that it
would be honoured if presented within a reasonable time after its issue by him.
Section 420 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Obtaining execution of a security by false pretences
Any person who by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, induces any person to execute, make,
accept, endorse, alter, or destroy, the whole or any part of any valuable security, or 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 three years.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant unless found committing the offence.
Section 421 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Cheating
Any person who by means of any fraudulent trick or device obtains from any other person anything
capable of being stolen, or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable of being
stolen or to pay or deliver to any person any money or goods, or any greater sum of money or greater
quantity of goods than he would have paid or delivered but for such trick or device, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for two years.
A person found committing the offence may be arrested without warrant.
Section 422 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Conspiracy to defraud
Any person who conspires with another by deceit or any fraudulent means to affect the market price of
anything publicly sold, or to defraud the public or any person, whether a particular person or not, or to
extort any property from any person, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.
Section 423 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Frauds on sale or mortgage of property
Any person who, being a seller or mortgagor of any property, or being the solicitor or agent of any such
seller or mortgagor, with intent to induce the purchaser or mortgagee to accept the title offered or
produced to him, and with intent to defraud‐
(1) conceals from the purchaser or mortgagee any instrument material to the title, or any
encumbrance; or
(2) falsifies any pedigree on which the title depends or may depend; or
(3) makes any false statement as to the title offered or conceals any fact material thereto,
is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for two years.
Section 424 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Pretending to exercise witchcraft or tell fortunes
Any person who for gain or reward pretends to exercise or use any kind of witchcraft, juju, sorcery,
enchantment, or conjuration, or undertakes to tell fortunes, or pretends from his skill or knowledge in
any occult science to discover where or in what manner anything supposed to have been stolen or lost
may be found, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for one year.
Section 425 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Obtaining registration, etc., by false pretence
Any person who wilfully procures or attempts to procure for himself or any other person any
registration, licence or certificate under any Act or law or under any regulation made under the Nigerian
(Constitution) Order in Council, 1951, or the Nigerian (Constitution) order in Council, 1954, or the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by any false pretence, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is
liable to imprisonment for one year.
[L.N. 155 of 1960. Cap. C23.]
Section 426 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
(Repealed by Ordinance No. 20 of 1955).
CHAPTER 39 – Receiving property stolen or fraudulently obtained and like offences
Section 427 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Receiving stolen property, etc.
Any person who receives anything which has been obtained by means of any act constituting a felony or
misdemeanor, or by means of any act done at a place not in Nigeria, which if it had been done in Nigeria
would have constituted a felony or misdemeanor, and which is an offence under the laws in force in the
place where it was done, knowing the same to have been so obtained, is guilty of a felony.
If the offence by means of which the thing was obtained is a felony, the offender is liable to
imprisonment for fourteen years, except in the case in which the thing so obtained was postal matter, or
any chattel, money or valuable security contained therein, in which case the offender is liable to
imprisonment for life.
In any other case the offender is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
For the purpose of proving the receiving of anything, it is sufficient to show that the accused person has,
either alone or jointly with some other person, had the thing in his possession, or has aided in
concealing it or disposing of it.
Section 428 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Unlawful possession of arms, etc., belonging to armed or police forces
Any person who‐
[L.N. 112 of 1964.]
(a) knowingly detains, buys, exchanges, or receives, from any non‐commissioned officer or private
of the armed forces of Nigeria or from any member of the police forces, or from any deserter
from either of such forces, or from any person acting for and on behalf of any of the persons
above named; or
(b) solicits or entices any of the said persons to sell, make away with, or dispose of; or
(c) shall be employed by any of the said persons, well knowing him to belong to one or other of
such forces in one of the several capacities hereinbefore mentioned, or to be a deserter from
any of the said forces, to sell, make away with, or dispose of; or
(d) shall have in his possession and not give a satisfactory account of his possession of any arms,
ammunition, clothing, accoutrements, medals or other appointments, furnished for the use of
the armed forces of Nigeria or of the police forces,
is liable to a fine of forty naira and to pay double the value of all or any of the several articles which he
shall so become or be possessed of.
Section 429 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Receiving after change of ownership
When a thing has been obtained by means of any act constituting a felony or misdemeanor, or by means
of an act done at a place not in Nigeria, which if it had been done in Nigeria would have constituted an
offence, and which is an offence under the laws in force in the place where it was done, and another
person has acquired a lawful title to it, a subsequent receiving of the thing is not an offence although
the receiver knows that the thing had previously been so obtained.
Section 430 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Having possession of thing reasonably suspected of having been stolen
(1) Any person who is charged before any court with having in his possession or under his
control in any manner or in any place, or for that he at any time within the three months immediately
preceding the making of the complaint, did have in his possession or under his control in any manner or
in any place, anything which is reasonably suspected of having been stolen or unlawfully obtained, and
who does not give an account, to the satisfaction of the court, as to how he came by the same, is guilty
of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of two hundred naira or to imprisonment for six
months.
(2) Where any person is charged before any court with having or with having had in his
possession or under his control in any manner or in any place anything which has been stolen or
unlawfully obtained, or which is reasonably suspected of having been stolen or unlawfully obtained, and
declares that he received the same for some other person or that he was employed as a carrier, agent or
servant for some other person, the court is hereby authorised and required, if practicable, to cause
every such other person and also if necessary every former or pretended purchaser or other person
through whose possession such thing as aforesaid has passed or who has had control thereof, to be
brought before it and to examine witnesses upon oath touching the same; and if it appears to the court
that any person has had possession or control of such thing and had reasonable cause to believe the
same to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained, every such person shall be deemed to have had
possession or control of such thing at the time and place when and where the same was found or seized,
and is guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction to a fine of two hundred naira or to imprisonment
for six months.
(3) The possession of or control by a carrier, agent or servant shall be deemed to be the
possession of or control by the person who employed such carrier, agent or servant to have or deal with
such thing and such person shall be liable on conviction to the punishment herein mentioned.
(4) The offender may be arrested without warrant.
Section 431 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Unlawfully using animals or vehicles
Any person who unlawfully uses a horse, mare, gelding, ass, mule, camel, ostrich, bull, cow, ox, ram,
ewe, wether, goat, or pig, or the young of any such animal, or any cycle or other vehicle whatsoever
without the consent of the owner, or of the person in lawful possession thereof, is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for one year, or to a fine of forty naira for every animal or
vehicle so used.
The offender may be arrested without warrant by a police officer, or by the owner of the property in
question, or his servant, or by any person authorised by such owner or servant.
Section 432 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Suspicion of stealing animals
When any horse, mare, gelding, ass, mule, camel, ostrich, bull, cow, ox, ram, ewe, wether, goat, or pig,
or the young of any of such animal is suspected, on reasonable grounds, to have been stolen, any person
in whose possession or custody the skin, feathers or carcass, or any part of the skin or carcass, of the
animal or bird so suspected to have been stolen, is found, is guilty of an offence, unless he proves that
he came lawfully by the thing in question; and he is liable to a fine of one hundred naira.
The offender may be arrested without warrant by a police officer, or by the owner of the property in
question, or his servant, or by any person authorised by such owner or servant.
Section 433 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Taking reward for recovery of property obtained by means of felony or misdemeanour
Any person who corruptly receives or obtains, or corruptly agrees to receive or obtain, any property or
benefit of any kind upon an agreement or understanding that he will help any person to recover
anything which has been obtained by means of any act constituting a felony or misdemeanor, or by
means of any act done at a place not in Nigeria, which if it had been done in Nigeria would have
constituted an offence, and which is an offence under the laws in force in the place where it was done,
is, unless he has used all due diligence to cause the offender to be brought to trial for the offence, guilty
of a felony, and liable to imprisonment for seven years.
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