Section 106 Nigeria Police Act

Section 106 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020 is about Appointment of special constables. It is under Part XIII (Special Constables) of the Act. It provides as follows:

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the competent authority may appoint as a special constable any person who–
(a) has attained the age of 21 years but has not attained the age of 50 years ;
(b) is of good character and physically fit ; and
(c) has signified willingness to serve as a special constable.

(2) The Inspector-General of Police shall, from time to time by notice published in the Force Administrative Instructions, fix the maximum number of persons who may hold appointments under this section, and a person shall not be appointed as a special constable under this section if his appointment would cause the number, for the time being so fixed, to be exceeded.

(3) Subject to subsection (2), the Inspector-General of Police may-
(a) review the maximum number of persons who may hold appointments under this section in any territory ; and
(b) fix the maximum number of persons appointed under this section who may hold any particular rank in the special constabulary in any territory ;
(c) in either case, fix different numbers with respect to different territories, and every competent authority shall ensure that the numbers fixed under this subsection are not exceeded.

(4) Every special constable appointed under this section-
(a) shall be appointed to serve as a special constable for one year or such longer period as may be agreed between him and the authority by whom he is appointed, and shall, on appointment, sign an engagement in the prescribed form to serve as a special constable for that period ;

(b) shall be appointed in respect of the Police Area Command or, where there is no Police Area Command, the Police Division in which he resides or is employed ;

(c) shall, within the territory in which the police area in respect of which he is appointed is situated, but not elsewhere, have the powers, privileges and immunities of a special constable; and subject to the provisions of this Act, shall be a member of the special constable for all purposes –

Provided that a special constable appointed in respect of a police area within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja shall have the powers, privileges and immunities of a special constable not only within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja but also within any police area adjacent to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

(5) A special constable shall have such rank as may be assigned to him by the competent authority, and the assigning authority shall cause notice of it to be published in the Force Administrative Instructions.

(6) A special constable may be, within three months before the end of his first or any subsequent period of engagement, and with the permission of the competent authority, re-engaged to serve for a further period of one year or such longer period as may be agreed between him and the authority and, if he does so, his appointment under this section is deemed to have been extended accordingly.

(7) Without prejudice to the right of the competent authority to refuse permission in any case, a person is not permitted to re-engage under subsection (6) unless he would, if not already a special constable, be qualified for appointment as such under this section.

(8) Every special constable shall, on appointment, be issued with a certificate of appointment in the prescribed form, and, on the determination of his appointment(whether by the passage of time or under section 106 of this Act) shall be issued with a certificate of discharge in the prescribed form.