Section 40 Nigeria Police Act

Section 40 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020 is about Handing over of an arrested suspect by private person. It is under Part VII (Powers of Police Officers) of the Act. It provides as follows:

(1) A private person who arrests a suspect shall immediately hand over the suspect so arrested to a police officer or, in the absence of a police officer, shall take the suspect to the nearest police station, and the police officer shall make a note of the name, address and other particulars of the private person making the arrest.

(2) Where there is reason to believe that the arrested suspect comes under subsection (I), a police officer shall re-arrest him and if there is no sufficient reason to believe that the suspect has committed an offence, he shall be released immediately.

(3) Where there is reason to believe that the suspect has committed an offence, and he refuses, on the demand of a police officer, to give his name and address, or gives a name or address which the police officer reasonably believes to be false, the provisions of section 61 of this Act shall apply.

(4) Where a suspect so arrested by a private person is handed over to a police officer or an official of an agency authorised by Jaw to make arrests, the police officer or official shall take note of the name, residential address and other particulars of the private person making the arrest, and the date, time and other circumstances of the arrest, and where the arrested suspect is taken to the police station or to the agency, the officer shall make the entries in the crime diary.

(5) The police officer or official to whom the arrested suspect is handed over by the private person shall obtain from the private person who made the arrest a formal witness statement setting out the facts and circumstances of the arrest.

(6) The provisions of section 46 of this Act do not apply to this section unless the suspect arrested and handed over has been re-arrested in accordance with subsection (2).