WORLD FACTBOOK OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS


NIGERIA


by

Obi N.I. Ebbe
State University of New York 
 at Brockport

This country report is one of many prepared for the World Factbook
of Criminal Justice Systems under Grant No. 90-BJ-CX-0002 from the Bureau
of Justice Statistics to the State University of New York at
Albany.  The project director for the World Factbook of Criminal Justice
was Graeme R. Newman, but responsibility for the accuracy of the
information contained in each report is that of the individual
author.  The contents of these reports do not necessarily reflect the 
views or policies of the Bureau of Justice Statistics or the U.S. Department 
of Justice.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

1. Political System.  

     Nigeria is a federation of thirty states. The
Nigerian Constitutions of 1979 and 1991 provide
for a National Assembly and a Senate at the
federal level.  At the state level, there exists a
Senate and a House of Representatives. The
Constitutions also provide for a President to be
the Nigerian Head of State and for a State
Governor in each of the 30 states.  There are
separate federal and state courts and one Supreme
Court.
     Every state is divided into counties
generally called local government areas.  Each
local government area is administered by a
chairman and a council of twenty members.  The
courts in each state are controlled by the state
government.  Each state government has a Chief
Justice who also acts as the State Minister of
Justice.  There are essentially two types of Chief
Justices: 1) the Chief Justice of the State
Supreme Court and 2) the Chief Justice of the
Nigerian Federation who functions as an Attorney
General.   

2. Legal System.

     Nigeria inherited the English common law
tradition.  However, since Nigeria has a
tripartite judicial system, the common law
tradition applies only at the English law
(Colonial) based courts.  The common law does not
apply to the Islamic and customary law courts of
Nigeria.
     Nigerian criminal procedure is based on an
adversarial approach with the burden of proof most
commonly placed on the accused.  The Islamic
(Muslim) courts and customary courts use an
inquisitorial approach in their criminal
procedures.   

3. History of Criminal Justice System.

     Nigeria was previously a British Colony. 
Therefore, the basis of the Nigerian criminal law
is the English law.   (Nigeria's capital territory of 
Nigeria-Lagos was annexed by the British in 1849.
Later, other regions of Nigeria were declared 
protectorates and administered by the Royal Niger 
Company Chartered and Limited.  
In 1899 the charter granted to the
Royal Niger Company Limited was revoked, and the
British Government took over direct administration
of Nigeria by 1900 (Niven, 1957; Burns, 1929). 
     In 1861, after the colonization of the Colony
and Protectorate of Lagos, the Protectorate of
Southern Nigeria, and the Protectorate of Northern
Nigeria, the British Consuls and the Royal Niger
Company, Ltd., set up a legislative council to
make laws to control the masses and regulate
business activities involving many European
countries and Africans).  
 The British consuls and the
Royal Niger Company Chartered and  Limited
(chartered by Britain to administer Nigeria until
1900) established Courts of Justice and an armed
constabulary to enforce laws and regulations. 
From 1861 to 1874, ten different courts were
created, with only four devoted to criminal
matters: the Supreme Court/Police Magistrate
Court, the Court of Civil and Criminal Justice,
the West African Court of Appeal (WACA), and The
Privy Council (Elias, 1963).  The laws enacted by
the colonial legislative council were based on the
laws, values, and customs of the English people. 
When the British government took over direct
administration of Nigeria in 1900 from the Royal
Niger Company Chartered and Limited, it retained
all of its courts, laws, and regulations.
     The Criminal Code was originally introduced
to the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria in 1904 by
the Colonial Governor of the Northern
Protectorate, Lord Lugard.  It was modeled after a
code that was introduced into the State of
Queensland, Australia in 1899 by Britain.  
(The Queensland Criminal Code was based on a
Criminal Code drafted in Jamaica by a British
Criminal Law attorney, Sir James Fritzstephen, in
1878 (Arikpo, 1967; Oloyede, 1972)).  
  After the uniting of the Southern Protectorates in 1906
and the subsequent uniting of the Southern
Protectorates with the Protectorate of Northern
Nigeria in 1914, Lord Lugard made the Criminal
Code of 1904 applicable to all the Protectorates
in Nigeria (Elias, 1954, 1963, 1967; Nwabueze,
1963; Okonkwo and Naish, 1964; and Adewoye, 1977).
     In 1959, the Criminal Code which was used
throughout Nigeria did not apply to Northern
Nigeria.  Throughout the Colonial era, the courts
in the Northern region of Nigeria had lacked
professionally trained personnel in criminal law.
In addition, the British judges were uncertain how
to deal with the Emirs in regard to various
offenses and punishment under the Islamic (Maliki)
Law.  (The  Emir is the Head of a group of Moslem
counties.  The Emirs are the traditional rulers of
the Moslem areas).  
  As a solution, a panel of jurists was set
up to introduce a Penal Code that would take into
account Moslem interests, values, and standards. 
Since Sudan was an Islamic State where the Muslim
laws were similar to those of Northern Nigerian
Moslems, the jurists modeled the Penal Code law
after the Sudanese Penal Code (Nwabueze, 1963;
Elias, 1967; Adewoye, 1977).
     The Northern Nigerian Penal Code law applies
to all persons living in Northern Nigeria.
Occasionally a non-Moslem is brought before a
Muslim Court (Alkali Court), where Muslim laws are
applied.  Although the defendant may not know the
illegality of an act in the Emirated, he/she must
still stand before the Muslim Court Judge
(Karibi-Whyte, 1964).  (An Emirate is a Moslem 
country ruled by an Emir).  

     The Northern Nigerian Penal Code, therefore,
was introduced to account for the differences
between Muslim and non-Muslim laws, making the
region's laws applicable to everyone.  The guiding
principle under the Code's provisions was that
since the majority of the people living in the
region were Moslem, the Penal Code law should not
be in conflict with the dictates of the Holy Koran
(Elias, 1967).
     While the Nigerian Criminal Code was
applicable to the whole of Nigeria in 1916, most 
criminal cases were still governed by "Native Law
and Custom."  This created problems,  especially
in Northern Nigeria because the Maliki Law
contained many rules which were not acceptable
under English Law (Okonkwo and Naish, 1964). 
(The offense of homicide, punishable by death,
includes any assault ending in death, regardless
of intent.  In effect, the crime of manslaughter
under the Nigerian Criminal Code is prosecuted as
murder under the Maliki Law (Okonkwo and Naish,
1964))
    Due to the confusion occurring in the
administration of dual systems of criminal
laws--one by the British or Colonial courts which
applied the Nigerian Criminal Code, and the other
by the customary courts which applied Maliki Law,
an attempt was made to abolish the customary law
in 1933.  However, the British administrators
abandoned this idea, and instead introduced
Section 10 of the Native Courts Ordinance which
stated that the Native Courts could administer
customary law provided that the punishment did not
involve mutilation or torture and was "not
repugnant to natural justice, equity, and good
conscience" (Elias, 1963).
     Today, Nigeria uses a tripartite system of
criminal law and justice: the Criminal Code (based
on English Common Law and legal practice); the
Penal Code (based on Maliki Law and a Muslim
system of law and justice); and Customary Law
(based on the customs and traditions of the
people).  In Southern Nigeria, the native laws are
informal, unwritten  agreements.  In Northern
Nigeria, laws are written.
     Nigeria achieved independence in 1960.  Since
then, both the Nigerian Criminal Code and the
Northern Nigerian Penal Code have added many
amendments to reflect the norms, values, and
standards of the Nigerian people (Karibi-Whyte,
1964; Elias, 1972; Ebbe, 1985a).  (One result 
of having the Nigerian Criminal Code
based on the English Common Law tradition was the
criminalization of some of the Nigerian customs.
For example, Section 370 of the Nigerian Criminal
Code prescribes a seven year prison sentence for
any person who marries another while his/her
marriage partner is still living.  According to
this section, "Bigamy is the contracting of a
second marriage during the lifetime of one's
"first" wife or husband.  Section 35 of the
Marriage Act declares such a second marriage as
void, and there [are] penalty provisions in
Section 47 and 48 of the Marriage Act (Elias,
1954, 1972; Ebbe, 1985a).
     Such normative standards in Nigeria that were
criminalized by the colonial administration have
since been revoked.  For example, in 1970, by
decree, the bigamy law in Nigerian Criminal Law
was declared null and void (Elias, 1972; Obilade,
1969; Ebbe, 1985a)).  


CRIME   

1. Classification of Crimes.  

* Legal classification.  Crimes in Nigeria are
classified by the severity of the offense into
felonies (very serious) and misdemeanors (less 
serious).  Examples of felonious offenses are
armed robbery, arson, auto theft, burglary, child-
stealing, counterfeiting, conspiracy, drug
offenses, forgery, fraud, kidnapping, murder,
rape, smuggling contraband, theft of an object of
high value, and treason.  All other offenses are
considered misdemeanors.
     The Nigerian police also classify crimes into
offenses against persons, offenses against
property, other offenses (crimes without victims),
and offenses against local ordinances.       

* Age of criminal responsibility.  Any person
seventeen years or older is considered an adult. 
Persons 12 to 16 years-old are treated as
juveniles while 7 to 11 year-olds are considered
children.  The offenses of both children and
juveniles are handled at the juvenile courts.
Juvenile courts are generally ad hoc and
informally administered.  They are presided over
by the county magistrate, a layman and a laywoman
(Ebbe, 1988).    

* Drug offenses.  Drug offenses in Nigeria include
the possession or selling of cocaine, heroin, and
marijuana.  Barbiturates and amphetamines are
legal drugs which can be purchased as
over-the-counter medicines.   

2. Crime Statistics.

     The crime statistics provided below are based
on the number of crimes reported to the police
(which includes crimes reported by citizens,
crimes observed by citizens, and crimes observed
by the police) and are compiled by the Nigerian
Police Force.   (Systematic record keeping of crime data in
Nigeria is still very cumbersome for the Nigerian
Police Force, although the NPF Headquarters is
making some effort to improve.  The amount of
robbery and burglary recorded by the Nigerian
police captures only about 30% of the number of
robberies or burglaries actually committed because
many of the crimes are not detected or reported. 
Additionally, over 60% of the crimes that should
be kept in police records are disposed without
being recorded at the informal, customary courts.
These facts and biases in police crime records
should be considered when analyzing Nigerian crime
data)).   
  All crime rates are computed from
the police reports, using Nigeria's 1991
population census report as its base (total
population=88,569,226).  Generally, the
definitions of the crimes are similar to those of
England (Annual Reports of the Nigerian Police
Force 1986-1989 and Nigerian Year Book 1986-1989).

* Murder.  In 1989, there were 928 cases of murder
reported to the police, at a rate of 1.07 per
100,000 population.  Attempts are not included.   
(The number and rate of reported murders per
100,000 population for previous years, are as
follows: 984, rate=1.23 (1986); 849, rate=1.04
(1987); and 838, rate=1.00 (1988)).  
 


* Theft.  In 1989, there were 69,454 cases of
theft reported to the police, at a rate of 80.82
per 100,000 population.  Attempts are not
included.   (The number and rate of reported thefts per
100,000 population for previous years are as
follows: 68,322, rate=85.57 (1986); 69,767,
rate=86.09 (1987); and 72,368, rate=86.73 (1988)). 

* Rape.  In 1989, there were 1,032 cases of rape
reported to the police, at a rate of 1.20 per
100,000 population.  Attempts are not included. 
Date rape or the rape of a wife by her husband is
not a crime.   (The number and rate of reported rapes per
100,000 population for previous years are as
follows: 1,238, rate=1.55 (1986); 1,116, rate=1.37
(1987); and 963, rate=1.15 (1988)).  

* Drug offenses.  In 1989, there were 588 cases
involving drug offenses reported to the police, at
a rate of .68 per 100,000 population.  

* Crime regions.  The Nigerian police annual
reports have no records of crimes according to
regions, states or cities.  However, it is
generally known in Nigeria that property crimes
are perpetrated more in the Southern states than
in the Northern states.  This may be due to
greater business activity in the South. 


VICTIMS   

1. Groups Most Victimized by Crime.      
     The Nigerian police have no records of
victimization in terms of ethnicity, gender, age
or regions.  However, from information gathered in
prison reports, it appears that most crimes occur
between offenders and victims of the same
ethnicity.  Generally, males are more likely to be
victims and offenders than females (Ebbe, 1982 and
1985b).  One study of prisoners found that 62% of
the prisoners that were 30 years- old or younger
had victimized persons older than themselves
(Ebbe, 1982:122).   (In a systematic sample of 450 
inmates drawn from one maximum security prison 
and three medium security prisons in Nigeria, 
68% of the inmates were under 30 years-old at the 
time of the offense.  Among inmates serving time 
for property and personal offenses, 62% had 
victimized persons in older age categories (Ebbe, 1982:122)).  

2. Victims' Assistance Agencies.

     Nigeria has no victims' assistance agencies
or victim compensation programs.   

3. Role of Victim in Prosecution and Sentencing.

     Nigerian criminal procedure requires a victim
who has observed a crime to serve as a crown
witness during the trial.  However, the victim
does not play any part in the sentencing of the
offender.   

4. Victims' Rights Legislation.
       
     Victims are not allowed to take the law into
their own hands.  However, under the self-defense
statute, the victim is allowed to take
extraordinary action against an offender if
his/her life or dwelling is being seriously
threatened.    (The use of mob justice, which involves the
victim and other citizens catching the offender,
may fall under the self-defense statute.  In rural
areas, shaming the offender is a common method for
dealing with offenders)).
   


POLICE   

1. Administration and Organization.

     The Nigerian police organization follows the
hierarchical British pattern.  At the head of the
Nigerian police force is the Inspector-General. 
Other ranks exist in the following order, from
highest to lowest: Deputy Inspector-General,
Assistant Inspector-General, Commissioner of
Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Assistant
Commissioner of Police, Chief Superintendent of
Police, Superintendent of Police, Deputy
Superintendent of Police, Assistant Superintendent
of Police, Chief Inspector, Inspector,
Sub-Inspector, Cadet Sub-Inspector, Sergeant
Major, Sergeant, Corporal, Constable, and Recruit.
The ranks from the Inspector-General to the
Assistant Superintendent are considered Senior
Officers, while the lower ranks are considered
Junior or Non-Commissioned officers.  The Nigerian
Police force is divided into five departments (A,
B, C, D, and E), each performing specific
functions and each headed by a Commissioner,
Deputy Commissioner, or Assistant Commissioner.
     The Nigerian Police is a national and unified
force.  Its organization and administration are
the responsibility of the federal government.  A
squadron of the force is stationed in each of the
30 states under the command of a Commissioner of
Police.  The Commissioner of Police is subject to
the authority of the Inspector-General of Police. 
The Inspector- General has command over all of the
police squadrons in Nigeria and the maintenance
and security of public order and safety.  The
Inspector-General is accountable to the Minister
of Internal Affairs and, ultimately, to the
President of Nigeria.  The Commissioner of Police
in each state is similarly subject to the
authority of that state's Governor.
     The Independence Constitution and subsequent
Constitutions have not authorized the
establishment of local government police.  Those
previously established by the British in the
Northern and Western states were disbanded during
occupation by the military regime (1966-1979). 
Rather, the Commissioner of Police in each state
administers the squads at provincial, county, and
divisional levels.  Daily and monthly reports of
police operations are transmitted from the police
units in the divisions and counties to provincial
headquarters and then to state headquarters. 
These reports are then sent to the police
headquarters in the national capital of Lagos.
     An important branch of the Nigerian police
force is the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID).  Most of the CID personnel in the 1960s had
received their training from Britain's Scotland
Yard.  The CID of the Nigerian police force is the
major unit for crime detection and prevention. 
Squads of CID agents exist in every state.  The
CID also has sub-units such as the anti-fraud
squad, anti-burglary squad, and anti-narcotics
squad. 
     The Nigerian Mobile Police Unit is a
paramilitary branch of the Nigerian police force.
Unit members operate under a strategic law
enforcement system.  They are well-trained in
tracking down hardened criminals, such as highway
robbers and international smugglers.
     Two other major Nigerian police force
auxiliaries are the Special Constabulary and the
Traffic Warden Service.  The Special Constabulary
help the Nigerian police fight crime and assist
with law and order maintenance.  In 1975, the
Traffic Warden Service was initiated in Lagos for
traffic control duties.  Today, many states have
established similar units to aid the Nigerian
police force in traffic control.
     Central responsibilities of the Nigerian
police include the arrest, prosecution, and
escorting of convicts to prison.     

2. Resources.  

* Expenditures.  At the time of this study, annual
expenditure information was not available. 
* Number of police.  The Nigerian police force was
an all-male law enforcement agency until 1955,
when women became eligible to join the force. 
Today, duties of female police officers mainly
involve radio dispatch, traffic control, office
duties, and investigating cases that involve
women, juvenile delinquents, and non-violent
criminal cases.
     At the time of this writing, statistics on
the ethnic and state composition of the Nigerian
police force was not available.   

3. Technology.  

* Availability of police automobiles.  Information
not available.  

* Electronic equipment.  The Nigerian police force
has a very small number of communication devices.
The use of computers and radar devices are
considered a luxury by the Nigeria government
(Nigeria News Update, 1993).  

* Weapons.  Information not available.  

4. Training and Qualifications.

     Police recruits undergo a six to nine month
training session at one of the police colleges
located in each of the four geographic regions of
Nigeria (north, east, west, and midwest) and the
national capital of Lagos.  (Editor's note: In
1991, the capital of Nigeria was transferred to
Abuja.  Most criminal justice agencies originally
located in Lagos have remained there.) Most
recruits are expected to have a high school
diploma in order to be admitted into the Recruit
grade of the police force.  However, some recruits
have first school learning certificates
(equivalent to an 8th Grade education in the U.S.)
or a West African school certificate (equivalent
to a high school diploma).
     Police officer cadets are trained at the
Nigerian Police Academy in Lagos.  Some cadets are
trained in England, the United States, India, and
Pakistan.  The length of training at the police
academy ranges from one to three years, depending
on the cadet's previous level of education. 
Persons with a university degree such as a
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science spend less
than three years in training before they are
commissioned Assistant Superintendent.  Officers
of the Nigerian police force are presently
recruited among university graduates.     

5. Discretion.  

* Use of force.  It is not unknown for police to
use deadly force when attempting to arrest a
suspect. 

* Stop/apprehend a suspect.  The Nigerian police
have wide discretion in the apprehension of
offenders.  The police operate via a static law
enforcement system by which victims report crimes
to the nearest police station  (Tamumo, 1970;
Okonkwo, 1966; Ebbe, 1982).  

* Decision to arrest.  Police will arrest a
suspect only when they have solid grounds to
believe that the individual has committed a crime.
While there are situations under the law in which
the police have to obtain a warrant from a
magistrate before arresting a suspect, the
Nigerian police normally arrest without a warrant.
     Cases brought to the Office of the Director
of Public Prosecution (DPP) are considered to be
very serious and usually involve a felony offense
where the offender is caught in the act by the
police, victim or bystanders.  At this point, the
DPP decides whether to prosecute the crime.  If
there are no witnesses to the offense, the police
can give a warning and release the suspect, even
when it seems clear that the individual committed
the offense (Tamumo, 1970; Okonkwo, 1966; Ebbe,
1982).  

* Search and seizure.  The police can search and
seize property without a warrant (Tamumo, 1970;
Okonkwo, 1966; Ebbe, 1982).  

* Confessions.  Involuntary confessions are not
officially condoned.   

6. Accountability.

     General supervision of the organization and
administration of the police force is conducted by
a Police Council.  The power of appointment,
dismissal, and disciplinary control of police
force members is vested in a Police Service
Commission.  The Commission consists of a chairman
and two other members who must not be ministers or
members of any legislative house of the civil
services.  However, the Commission does not
fulfill the role of policing the police.  There
are no people or organizations charged with this
responsibility.


PROSECUTORIAL AND JUDICIAL PROCESS   

1. Rights of the Accused.  

* Rights of the accused at trial.  There has been
no jury trial in Nigeria since the decline of the
colonial administration of justice.  The accused
is provided a public defender to protect him/her
from self-incrimination (Aguda, 1974).  

* Assistance to the accused.  When the accused is
an indigent and incapable of providing his own
defense attorney, the state will provide a public
defender.   

2. Procedures.  

* Preparatory procedures for bringing suspect to
trial.  After arrest, the highest ranking police
officer at the police station thoroughly
investigates the case.  If the investigation
report reveals that the suspect committed the
offense, all case information is then transferred
to the office of the Director of Public
Prosecution (DPP).  If the DPP finds inadequate
evidence to charge the accused, the case can be
dismissed.  However, if there is enough evidence
to bring charges against the accused, the DPP will
prosecute the suspect before a magistrates court. 
* Official who conducts prosecution.  Most
criminal prosecutions are conducted by the police.
The Director of Public Prosecutions and his
department prosecutes the more serious cases, such
as murder, armed robbery, narcotics, and drug
trafficking (Aguda, 1974).  
     However, there are certain persons that can
discourage the police or DPP from bringing charges
against an offender.  For instance, top officials
or politicians can order or lobby the police or
DPP to drop a case, even when it has already
resulted in formal charges before the court.  

* Alternatives to trial.  No plea bargaining
exists in Nigeria.  Minor criminal cases that
require negotiated settlements are referred to the
customary court by the presiding magistrate.
     If an accused is brought before a magistrates
court for questioning and, subsequently, offers an
unsolicited guilty plea, the court will
immediately refer the accused to a psychiatrist to
determine whether he/she is mentally competent. 
(The defendant in a criminal trial may claim
murder in self-defense or insanity as defenses.
Intoxication cannot be used as a defense unless
the defendant was intoxicated under duress (Brett
and McLean, 1963))  
If the accused's mental capacity is found to be
normal, the magistrate will impose a sentence
according to law.  There is no sentencing benefit
(e.g. leniency) to pleading guilty.
     Finally, the police officer investigating the
case can take the following three actions, each of
which would avoid a trial: 1) Dismiss the case
because of insufficient evidence; 2) Warn and
discharge the suspect on the grounds that: the
suspect has no prior criminal record, the offense
is a victimless crime, or the offender agrees to
compensate the victim; and 3) refer the case to a
juvenile court or discharge the accused if the
suspect is a juvenile (less than 17 years-old).  
* Proportion of prosecuted cases going to trial. 
Information not available.  

* Pre-trial incarceration conditions.  The
investigating police officer can detain the
suspect if there are grounds to do so.  If the
offender is denied bail, the court can require an
offender to be remanded into custody, where the
offender awaits trial in a medium or maximum
security prison designed for this purpose.  By
law, magistrates can detain a suspect for up to 30
days.  In practice, detainees may be held longer. 
* Bail procedure.  A person charged with a
misdemeanor is entitled to bail unless the DPP and
the court have valid reasons why bail should be
denied.  The court has full discretion to grant
bail in felony cases.
     Bail can be granted by the court with or
without sureties.  That is, if it is clear that
the offender will appear for trial and will not
leave the area, bail can be granted regardless of
whether a bail bondsman is involved.  However, if
a bondsman is retained and the offender fails to
appear for trial, the bondsman is held liable to
the court.  The court can deny bail on the
following grounds: a) the suspect refused arrest;
b) the suspect has committed previous crimes; c)
the suspect committed a separate crime while on
bail; d) the suspect is arrested for murder, rape,
armed robbery, drug smuggling, counterfeiting, or
another heinous crime; e) the suspect poses a
danger to the public; f) there is a need to
protect the offender; or g) the suspect is an
unruly juvenile.   

* Proportion of pre-trial offenders incarcerated.
Approximately 25% of the prison inmate population
are being held in prison while awaiting trial
(Ebbe, 1982: 221-224).   


JUDICIAL SYSTEM   

1. Administration.

     There are two levels of courts in Nigeria:
federal courts and state courts.  All of the
courts, except some Northern states' district
courts, have criminal jurisdiction.  

Federal Courts.  The Federal Supreme Court,
established under the 1960 Constitution of the
Federation Order-in-Council, was revised by the
Republican Constitution of 1963.  While the 1963
Constitution had not ensured the independence of
the Judiciary, the 1979 Constitution made the
Supreme Court and its judges independent of the
President and the legislature.  The Supreme Court
acts as the Final Court of Appeal and a Superior
Court of Records.  It is not a court of original
jurisdiction.
     The Federal High Court/Federal Court of
Appeal is composed of the Chief Justice and, at
least five other judges.  The Federal High Court
is a Superior Court of records.  It hears cases
where the federal government is a party against
states or individuals.  Appeals are brought to the
Supreme Court.  The Federal High Court may be held
in any of the states, especially in cases where
the parties live in the same state (e.g. an Assize
Court).  A case involving persons of different
states may be filed in a Federal High Court in
Lagos.  Criminal offenses involving the violation
of federal laws such as smuggling contraband,
counterfeiting, or the possession of marijuana or
narcotic drugs, are usually tried in a Federal
High Court, although sometimes drug and currency
offenses are tried by special tribunals.   

State Courts.  There is a variety of courts in the
states. The State High Court is the highest court
in each state, although some states have a Court
of Appeal which sits above the High Court.  

State Courts of Appeal.  The Constitution empowers
all of the states to establish a State Court of
Appeal for the handling of appeal cases brought
from a State High Court.  In states that have
established a Court of Appeal, decisions from the
High Court must be brought to the Court of Appeal
before they are taken to the Nigerian Supreme
Court (Elias, 1967).
     The Court of Appeal Edict of 1967 established
a Court of Appeal in the Western states.  The
provisions of the Edict were given effect under
Section 127(2) of the Constitution of the
Federation by the Constitution Order of 1967. The
Western states' Court of Appeal hears cases
deriving from the High Court of a Western state. 
It has jurisdiction on questions relating to the
interpretation of the State Constitution (Elias,
1972).
     The Sharia Court of Appeal was established in
1960 in the Northern states for the purpose of
hearing appeals from customary courts where Moslem
Personal Law was involved.  Appeals for cases
involving Moslem Personal Law are brought from an
upper court to the Sharia Court of Appeal. 
Appeals from the decision of the Sharia Court of
Appeal that concern questions of the
interpretation of the Constitution of the
Federation, or a state constitution, or questions
involving the application of the provisions of the
Constitution of the Federation relating to
fundamental rights, are brought to the Nigerian
Supreme Court  (Constitution of the Federation,
1963).  

State High Courts.  The Court of Resolution of
Northern Nigeria was established by the Court of
Resolution Law, 1960.  This court was established
in 1960 for the purpose of resolving any conflict
of jurisdiction between the State High Court and
the Sharia Court of Appeal.  The decision of the
Court of Resolution is final; there is no appeal
(Northern Region Law Report 94, 1960; Court of
Resolution Law, 1963).
     The Federal Constitution of 1954 empowered
the Regional Legislatures to establish courts for
their respective regions.  It resulted in the
regions establishing a High Court, Magistrates
Courts, and Native or Customary Courts in 1955. 
When the regions were broken down into 30 states,
every state was granted the power to establish its
own courts in accordance with the Federal
Constitution.
     Each State's High Court is a Superior Court
of Record having original and appellate
jurisdiction.  In the Eastern states that have
abolished customary courts, the High Courts of
those states have original jurisdiction in land
cases and matters arising under customary law. 
(The abolition of customary courts in those two
states resulted from the Nigerian Civil War which
destroyed most of the court buildings.  No federal
aid has been provided for their reactivation).  

     There are different grades of Magistrates
Courts from state to state, as well as different
grades of magistrates.  For instance, in the
Northern states, the Customary Courts are known as
Area Courts.  There are four types of Area Courts:
Upper Area Court, Area Court Grade I, Area Court
Grade II, and Area Court Grade III.  The Chief
Justice of each Northern state establishes the
Area Courts.  Appeals can be brought from an Area
Court Grade I, II or III to the Upper Area Court
that has jurisdiction in the geographic area where
the Area Court is located.  In cases involving
Moslem Personal Law, appeals from Upper Area Court
go to the Sharia Court of Appeal.  For other
cases, appeals from an Upper Area Court are
brought to the State High Court.
     In Bendel State, all Customary Courts are now
of the same grade.  Customary Courts are
established by the Chief Justice subject to the
approval of the State Governor.  In the Western
states, Customary Courts are graded as A, B, C,
and D (Elias, 1972).
     Positioned under the customary courts are
informal courts of elders and councils of elders
who handle minor criminal offenses in areas
located far from formalized courts and police
stations.   

2. Special Courts.

Special Criminal Offense Tribunals.  Some crimes
are tried at special tribunals designed for
handling specific offenses.  These special
tribunals are: The Armed Robbery and Firearms
Tribunal (1970), The Currency Offenses Tribunal
(1974), and The Illegal Drugs and Narcotics
Tribunal (1986).
     The Nigerian government originally set up the
Special Criminal Offense Tribunals in order to
prevent offenders from escaping conviction because
of legal loopholes or corrupt criminal justice
agents, including attorneys. 
(At the end of the Nigerian Civil War, many
hand-guns circulated throughout the country.  This
resulted in a high rate of armed robbery and
firearms offenses.  However, it was common for
offenders to escape penalty because of deals made
with the attorneys).  Each one of the
Special Criminal Offense Tribunals is composed of
five to seven retired court judges, senior
military officials, retired senior police
officers, and retired senior civil servants.  Most
of these tribunal judges do not have law degrees.
Today, the Tribunals are considered more effective
in obtaining convictions than the regular criminal
courts.
     The defendant is allowed to have a defense
attorney although there is no formal prosecutor
present at these cases.  Rather, at the trial, the
defendant and defense attorney face a panel of
unbiased judges.  Witnesses may be called by the
defendant.  A conviction is rendered only when the
evidence proves that the accused committed the
offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

Juvenile Court.  After World War II, the juvenile
courts were introduced by Britain into the
Western, Eastern, and Northern regions. 
(The juvenile court in Nigeria is a product of
British Colonial influence.  Juvenile  Courts did
not exist in Nigeria until the 1940s.  Before the
end of World War II, the only juvenile court was
located in the capital city of Lagos). The
juvenile court was modeled after the British
juvenile justice system. Today, the court is
composed of a magistrate, a layman and a laywoman
(Ebbe, 1988).   

3. Judges.  

* Number of judges.  The 1963 Constitution has
provided for a Supreme Court presided over by the
Chief Justice of Nigeria.  It has also provided
for at least five other judges to sit on the
Federal Supreme Court.  Presently, there are eight
judges sitting on the Federal Supreme Court.
     The Western states' Court of Appeals consists
of 5 justices: four justices of appeal and one
justice acting as the President of the court.  The
Sharia Court of Appeal (Moslem Personal Law)
consists of a Grand Kadi and at least two other
judges well versed in the Sharia.
     The Court of Resolution for each Northern
state consists of the Chief Justice of the state
(who acts as the President of the Court), the
Grand Kadi, one judge of the High Court nominated
by the Chief Justice, and one judge of the Sharia
Court nominated by the Grand Kadi.
     Under the Constitutions of 1960, 1979, and
1991, the High Court of each state consists of the
Chief Justice of the state and at least 6 other
judges (at least 5 in Lagos) as prescribed by the
legislature.    

* Appointments and qualifications.  The 1979
Constitution requires appointments to the Supreme
Court to get the approval of both Houses of the
Legislature.  The judges are appointed by the
President of Nigeria.  The judges must be
certified lawyers who have served as judges at the
federal or state court levels for a minimum of ten
years (Kasumu, 1978).
     All the judges of the Federal High
Court/Federal Court of Appeals are appointed by
the President of Nigeria with the approval of the
Senate.  Ten years of experience on the bench is
required before a lawyer is appointed judge to
this court.
     The Chief Justice of the state High Court is
appointed by the State Governor.  The other judges
are appointed in the same manner as the Chief
Justice but the appointments have to be made in
accordance with the advice of the appropriate
Judicial Service Commission.  During the military
regime (1966-1979), the Chief Justice of the
Federal and each State High Court, as well as
other court judges, were appointed by the Supreme
Military Council after consultation with the
Advisory Judicial Committee.  During that time,
the Nigerian Supreme Court was suspended and the
Federal High Court was positioned as the highest
court.
     The judges for the Sharia Court of Appeal are
appointed by the president after consultation with
the Advisory Judicial Committee.  The judges of
all customary courts, including Sharia Courts, are
all lay-judges with no formal legal training.     
The Public Service Commission of each state has
the authority to appoint magistrates for the
Magistrate Courts.  The magistrates are all
certified lawyers with at least five years of
experience on the bench.  The judges of the Area
Courts in the Northern States are also appointed
by the State's Public Service Commission.
     In Bendel, the Chief Justice is empowered to
appoint persons as presidents or members of a
Customary Court upon the recommendation of the
Advisory Judicial Committee (Elias, 1972).
     With the abolition of the Judicial Service
Commission, the Local Government Service Board is
empowered to appoint, dismiss, and exercise
disciplinary control over all members of Customary
Courts.  Previously, the Judicial Service
Commission had been able to appoint the presidents
of grade A and B Western state Customary Courts.   
   In Islamic courts, the Emirs and persons versed
in Islamic law serve as judges in criminal cases
which involve the violation of Islamic tradition. 
In customary courts, traditional chiefs serve as
judges in misdemeanor offenses and some cases that
involve more serious offenses (e.g. larceny,
theft, aggravated assault).      


PENALTIES AND SENTENCING    

1. Sentencing Process 

* Who determines the sentence?  The judge
determines the sentence.  

* Is there a special sentencing hearing?  There is
no pre-sentencing hearing.  If the suspect is
found guilty of the offense, the magistrate or a
State High Court judge can sentence an offender to
prison on the same day that the case is tried. 
Only in rare cases will the judge or magistrate
postpone sentencing.  

* Which persons have input into the sentencing
process?  Psychiatrists and social workers may be
involved in pre-trial investigations and are
involved in administering the penalty.  However,
psychiatrists, social workers, and victims do not
have any influence or role in the sentencing
process.   

2. Types of Penalties.   

* Range of penalties.  Persons found guilty of
misdemeanor offenses may be fined, warned, granted
probation, given corporal punishment or ordered to
perform community service.  Persons found guilty
of felony offenses may be imprisoned either in a
maximum security or medium security prison
depending on the gravity of the offense. 
Offenders convicted of less serious felony
offenses are sent to either a minimum security
prison or a labor camp.  In addition, house-arrest
may be imposed on political dissidents.  As there
is no parole system in Nigeria, life imprisonment
without parole is a viable punishment.
     The penalty for crimes brought to a Special
Criminal Offense Tribunal is established by
legislative decree.  The judges exercise very
little discretionary power in the sentencing for
these crimes.  For a person convicted of any of
these crimes (e.g. armed robbery, firearms,
currency offense, and treason), the penalty is
death by a firing-squad.  It was only in November
1992 that the Nigerian Head of State, Ibrahim
Babangida changed the death penalty sentence into
life imprisonment for any person convicted of
narcotics drug smuggling or possession. 
(Persons convicted of narcotic drug smuggling
can not use the absence of a prior criminal record
as a mitigating circumstance.  The sentence for
this crime is always life imprisonment).  
  
* Death penalty.  Nigeria uses the death penalty
for murder, armed robbery, treason, and currency
offenses.  Capital punishment is carried out
publicly with the use of a firing squad.   


PRISON   

1. Description.  

* Number of prisons and type.  There are maximum,
medium, and minimum security prisons and some
"open" prisons in many metropolitan cities of
Nigeria. (Pre-colonial Nigeria did not employ prisons as
penalties.  Punishment took the form of fines,
mutilation, castration, excommunication, lynching,
and dedication to the gods, whereby the offender
became an untouchable.  The British Imperial
Government introduced the prison system in Lagos
between 1861-1900.  By 1960, there was a prison in
every provincial headquarters in Nigeria; some
District Headquarters established minimum security
prisons). The largest prison complex in
Nigeria, which has both medium and maximum
security branches, is Kirikiri Prison, in Lagos
(Igbinovia, 1984; Ebbe, 1982; Iwarimie-Jaja, 1989;
Okediji and Okediji, 1968; Rotimi, 1982).
     As of 1983, there were a total of 123
prisons, 2 borstal homes, and 244 county lock-ups
in Nigeria.  (Borstal homes are categorized as between a
minimum and maximum security prison.  Most
offenders in these homes are young and have not
committed very serious offenses). 
The only women's prison in Nigeria
is located at Kirikiri, Lagos.  It is a medium
security prison and is located adjacent to the
only maximum security prison in the country
(Alemika, 1983; Igbinovia, 1984).
     In response to the severe economic problems
of Nigeria and the over-crowding in Nigerian
prisons, community-based corrections exist for
offenders convicted of trivial crimes.  These
community-based programs include labor camps, open
prison incarceration, and community service.  

* Number of prison beds.  In 1983, the Nigerian
prisons had a total capacity for 26,000 inmates,
but the actual inmate population was over 41,000.
Thus, over-crowding is one of the major problems
of the Nigerian prisons (Alemika, 1983; Kayode and
Alemika, 1984; Igbinovia, 1984).  

* Average daily population/number of prisoners. 
In 1983, the Nigerian prison inmate population was
over 62,153.  (In 1977, the Nigerian prison inmate population
of convicted offenders was 34,000 (Rotimi, 1982;
Ebbe, 1982; Alemika, 1983; and Igbinovia, 1984)).  
Most of these convicted prisoners
are incarcerated in county jails, minimum security
prisons, or what used to be called provincial
prisons (Rotimi, 1982; Ebbe, 1982; Alemika, 1983;
and Igbinovia, 1984; Ebbe, 1982: 221-223).   
(In July 1980, there were 837 convicted inmates
in Kirikiri maximum security prison, 832 convicts
in Ikoyi medium security prison, and 510 convicts
in Maiduguri medium security prison (Ebbe, 1982:
221-223)).  
     
There are few female prisoners.  In 1988, female
prisoners in Nigeria numbered 298 (Ebbe, 1985b).  

* Number of annual admissions.  Information not
available. 

* Actual or estimated proportions of inmates
incarcerated.  There are no systematic records
kept of Nigerian inmates by type of offense. 
However a study of 450 prisoners in four Nigerian
prisons, including the only maximum security at
Kirikiri, conducted in 1980, revealed the
following:

       Drug Crimes             1% inmates * 
       Violent Crimes        11% inmates **
       Property Crimes      70% inmates ***
       Other Crimes           18% inmates ****

(Figures are rounded to equal 100%, Ebbe, 1982)   
*  The figure for drug crimes includes only the
selling and possession of marijuana.  
**  The figure for violent crimes includes
assault, manslaughter, murder, rape, and child
stealing.  

***  The figure for property crimes includes
stealing, robbery, stealing a domestic animal,
motor theft, forgery, the buying and possession of
stolen property, fraud, bribery and pickpocketing.

**** The figure for other crimes includes wandering
(loitering), conspiracy, smuggling, reckless
driving, unlawful possession of a dangerous
weapon, attempt to commit a felony, adultery,
criminal damage of government property, failure to
produce a bailed offender on the day of the trial,
escape from police custody, willfully living in
Nigeria with an expired passport, and military
offenses.           

2. Administration.  

* Administration.  Nigeria has a centralized
system of prison administration.  In effect, every
prison in Nigeria is a federal prison.  Similar to
the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian prisons
fall under the authority of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, a department which is
reminiscent of the Home Office in England.      At
the top of the organizational hierarchy of the
Nigerian prisons is the Director of Prisons.  He
is appointed by the President of Nigeria only with
approval of the Public Service Commission.  The
overall chain of command in the Nigerian Prison
Service, from the highest to the lowest, is the
following: Director of Prisons, Deputy Director of
Prisons, Assistant Director of Prisons, Chief
Superintendent of Prisons, Superintendent of
Prisons, Assistant Superintendent of Prisons,
Cadet Superintendent of Prisons, Chief Warden
Grade I, Chief Warden Grade II, Assistant Chief
Warden, Sergeant, Corporal, and Warden (Nigerian
Prisons Service Annual Report, 1982 and 1989).
     There is a Deputy Director of Prisons for
each of the thirty states.  The maximum security
prison and every medium security prison are placed
under the leadership of a Chief Superintendent of
Prisons or a Superintendent of Prisons.  

* Prison guards.  Information not available.  

* Training and qualifications.  Prison wardens
must hold at least a First School Learning
Certificate prior to their training.  The minimum
qualification for entrance into the prison cadet
school is a high school diploma.  In addition,
university graduates have begun to join the
Nigerian prisons service.  

* Expenditure on the prison system.  The annual
expenditure of the Nigerian prison service was not
available at the time of this writing.  However,
the salaries of the prison officials are among the
lowest in the Nigerian civil service.  

3. Prison Conditions.   

* Remissions.  Nigeria has no parole system. 
Persons convicted of political crimes and inmates
serving a life sentence can be granted a pardon by
the Nigerian President.  Inmates can also gain
time off for good behavior or lose time for bad
conduct.   

* Work/education.  Inmates in all prisons are
allowed to work on community programs or projects
of the Nigerian Ministry of Works.  They can also
attend classes to obtain a primary school or high
school diploma.  Some inmates are allowed to
participate in correspondence programs with
schools in Nigeria and Great Britain in order to
obtain an ordinary or advanced General Certificate
of Education.  Prisons do not have organized
university degree programs.  

* Amenities/privileges.  All prisons have visiting
days.  Only minimum security and open prisons have
weekend leave programs.  Vocational education is
considered central to offender rehabilitation in
maximum and medium security prisons.  Group
therapy and medical care is available to all
prisoners.   


EXTRADITION AND TREATIES   

* Extradition.  The countries of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of
which Nigeria is a member, have a reciprocal
extradition agreement.  This agreement allows
citizens of member states to move about within the
Community without the need for visas.   

* Exchange of prisoners.  All ECOWAS countries can
exchange or transfer prisoners if the situation
warrants such a settlement.  

* Specified conditions.  Information not
available.                                         


SOURCES   

Adewoye, Omoniyi. The Judicial System in Southern  
   Nigeria, 1854-1954: Law and Justice in a     
Dependency. (New Jersey: Atlantic Highlands,     
Humanities Press), 1977.  
Aguda, Akinda T. The Law of Evidence in Nigeria.   
  (London: Sweet & Maxwell), 1974.  
Alemika, Etannibi, E.O. "The Smoke Screen:     
Rhetoric and Reality of Penal Incarceration     
in Nigeria," International Journal of       
Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice.     
vol. 1, 1983, pp. 137-149.  
Allott, A.N. The Future of Law in Nigeria.     
(London: Sweet and Maxwell), 1963.  
Arikpo, Okoi. The Development of Modern Nigeria.   
  (Baltimore: Penguin Books, Inc.), 1967.  
Brett, Lionel, Sir and Ian McLean. The Criminal    
 Law and Procedure of Lagos, Eastern Nigeria     
and Western Nigeria.  (London: Sweet and     
Maxwell), 1963.  
Burns, Alan Sir. History of Nigeria. (London:     
George Allen & Unwin Limited). 1929.   
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,   
  1963, Sec. III(2) and Sec. 1(1).  
Criminal Procedures Ordinance (Nigeria) 1960.  
Customary Courts Edict (No. 2), 1966.  

Dike, Kenneth O. Trade and Politics in the Niger   
  Delta, 1830-1891. (Oxford: Oxford University     
Press), 1959.  
Director of Prisons, "The Correction of Imprisoned 
    Offenders in Nigeria"  Paper presented at the  
   International Conference on Crime and Crime     
Control in Developing Countries.  Ibadan,     
Nigeria: University Conference Center, 1980.
Durkheim, Emile.  The Division of Labor in     
Society. (New York: Free Press), 1964.  
Ebbe, Obi N.I.  Crime in Nigeria: An Analysis of   
  Characteristics of Offenders Incarcerated in     
Nigerian Prisons. (Ann Arbor: University     
Microfilms International), 1982.  
Ebbe, Obi N.I. "Power and Criminal Law:
     Criminalization of Conduct Norms in a         
 Colonial Regime."  International Journal of     
Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice,     
vol. 9, no. 2, 1985a, pp. 113-122.  
Ebbe, Obi N.I. "Juvenile Justice System in     
Southern Nigeria."  International Journal of     
Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice,     
vol. 12, no. 2, 1988, pp. 191-204.  
Elias, Oluwale Taslim.  The Groundwork of Nigerian 
    Law. (London: Routeledge & Kegan Parel, Ltd),  
   1954.  
Elias, Oluwale Taslim. The Nigerian Legal System.  
   (London: Routeledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd), 1963.
Elias, Oluwale Taslim.  The British Commonwealth:  
   The Development of its Law and
     Constitution-Nigeria, Vol. 4. (London: Steven 
    & Sons, Limited), 1967.   
Elias, Oluwale Taslim. The Prison System in     
Nigeria. (Lagos: University of Lagos Press),     
1964.  
Elias, Oluwale Taslim. The Nigerian Magistrate and 
    the Offender. (Benin City: Ethiope Publishing  
   Company), 1972a.  
Elias, Oluwale Taslim. ed. Law and Social Change   
  in Nigeria. (Lagos: Evans Brothers Ltd).     
1972b. 
Ibginovia, Patrick E. "The Chimera of
     Incarceration: Penal Institutionalization and 
    its Alternatives in a Progressive Nigeria."    
  International Journal of Offender Therapy and    
 Comparative Criminology. vol. 28, no. 1,     
1984, pp. 22-36.  
Igbinovia, Patrick E. "Nigeria", World 
     Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Penal       
   Systems. ed. George Thomas Kurian. (New York:   
  Facts on File), 1988.  
Iwarimie-Jaja, Darlington. "Corrections in
     Nigeria: A System in Need of Reform",
     Criminal Justice International. vol. 5, no.   
  5, 1989, pp. 13-19.  
Karibi-Whyte, A.G. "Some Recent Amendments      to
the Criminal Code (Nigeria)."  Nigerian      Law
Journal. vol. 10, 1964, pp. 156-164.  
Kasumu, A.B. The Supreme Court of Nigeria.     
(London: Heinemann), 1978.  
Kayode, Oluyemi and Etannibi O. Alemika. "An     
Examination of Some Socio-Economic
     Characteristics of Inmates of a Nigerian 
     Prison."  International Journal of 
     Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 
     vol. 8, no. 1, 1984, pp. 85-91.  
Keay, E.A. and S.S. Richardson. The Nature of
     Customary Courts in Nigeria. (London: Sweet &
     Maxwell), 1966.   
Law of Northern Nigeria, 1963.  Lagos: Government
     Printing Press.  
Law of Northern Nigeria, 1963. Revision Section
     3(1), Court of Resolution Law, Cap. 28. 
Lugard, Frederick Sir. Sir Frederick Lugard:     
Political Memorandum. (Ibadan: National 
     Archives Library, University of Ibadan), 
     1913.  
News Agency of Nigeria:  Nigeria News Update,     
December 8, 1992 and 1993.  
Nigerian Police Force Annual Reports 1986-1989.  
Niven, C.R.  A Short History of Nigeria.  (London: 
    Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd), 1957.  
Nwabueze, Boniface B., The Machinery of Justice in 
    Nigeria. (London: Butterworths), 1963. 
     Northern Region Law Report, 94 of 1960.  
Obilade, A.O., "Reform of Customary Law Court     
Systems in Nigeria Under the Military     
Government", Nigerian Law Journal. vol. 3, 
     1969.  
Obilade, A.O. The Nigerian Legal System. (London:
     Sweet and Maxwell), 1979.    
Okediji, Francis and Oladejo, Okediji. "Nigerian   
  Prison Inmates," in Taslim O. Elias (ed.),      
The Prison System in Nigeria. National 
     Conference on the Prison System.  University  
   of Lagos, July 1-5.  
Okonkwo, Cyprain O.  The Police and the Public in  
   Nigeria. (Lagos: African University Press),     
1966.    
Okonkwo, Cyprain O. and Michael Naish.  Criminal   
  Law in Nigeria (Excluding the North). 
     (London: Sweet and Maxwell), 1964.  
Rotimi, Adewale R.  "Prison Administration in     
Modern Nigeria." International Journal of     
Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 
     9(1), 1982: 73-83.  
Sellin, Thorsten. Culture, Conflict and Crime. 
     (New York: Social Science Research),  1938. 
Tamuno, Tekena N. The Police in Modern Nigeria,    
 1861-1965. (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press),     
1970.      



Obi N. I. Ebbe 
Associate Professor 
Department of Criminal Justice 
State University of New York 
 at Brockport 
Brockport, New York 
United States   

Tel:  716-395-2665