Section 10 Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) Lagos

Section 10 Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, as amended in 2021, is about Arrest without Warrant. It provides as follows:

(1) A Police Officer or Law Enforcement Agent may, without an order of a court or without a warrant, arrest a person who —
(a) is reasonably suspected of having committed an offence triable on information under a Federal or State Law, unless the written law creating
the offence provides that the offender cannot be arrested without a warrant;

(b) commits an offence in the presence of the officer or the Agent;

(c) obstructs a Police Officer in the execution of duty, or has escaped or attempts to escape from lawful custody;

(d) is in possession of anything reasonably suspected to have been stolen or who may reasonably be suspected of having committed an offence with reference to such thing;

(e) is reasonably suspected of being a deserter from the Armed Forces of Nigeria;

(f) is reasonably suspected of having been involved in an act committed at any place out of the State. which if committed in the State would have been punishable under an existing law;

(g) has unlawful possession of any instrument of housebreaking, firearm
or any offensive or dangerous weapon;

(h) is reasonably believed to be the subject of a warrant of arrest issued
by a court of competent jurisdiction; or

(i) is found taking precautions to conceal the presence in circumstances which
afford the officer reason to believe that such precautions are with a view
to committing an offence which is a felony or misdemeanor.

(2) The authority given to a Police Officer to arrest a person who commits an offence in the presence of the officer, shall be exercisable in respect of offences committed in the officer’s presence notwithstanding that the law creating the offence provides that the offender cannot be arrested without
a warrant.

(3) The Commissioner of Police or Police Officer or any Law Enforcement Agent acting in that behalf, shall remit the record of all arrests made with or without warrant in relation to offences against the State to the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice within one (1) week of the arrest of
the suspect.

(4)(a) Where a suspect is arrested, with or without a warrant, and taken to a police station or to any other security agency’s office effecting the arrest, the police officer making the arrest or the officer in charge shall cause the record of the suspect to be taken immediately.

(b) The record of the arrested suspect to be
taken shall include:
(i) the alleged offence;
(i) date and circumstances of the suspect’s arrest;
(iii) full name, occupation and residential address;

(iv) height;
(v) photograph;
(vi) full fingerprint impressions: or
(vii) such other means of identification of the suspect.