Section 49 Nigeria Police Act

Section 49 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020 is about Power to stop and search. It is under Part VII (Powers of Police Officers) of the Act. It provides as follows:

(1) A police officer may exercise the power to stop and search many-
(a) place the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission ; or
(b) other place to which the public has ready access at the time when he proposes to exercise the power but which is not a private residence.

(2) A Police officer may detain and search any person or vehicle where-­
(a) reasonable grounds for suspicion exist that the person being suspected is having in his possession; or conveying in any manner anything which he has reason to believe to have been stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained ;
(b) reasonable grounds for suspicion exist that such person or vehicle is carrying an unlawful article ;

(c) reasonable grounds for suspicion that incidents involving serious violence may take place within a locality ;
(d) information has been received as to a description of an article being carried or of a suspected offender; and
(e) a person is carrying a certain type of article at an unusual time or in a place where a number of burglaries or thefts are known to have taken place recently.

(3) If, in the course of a search, a police officer discovers an article which he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be a stolen or prohibited article, he may seize it.

(4) An article is prohibited for the purposes of this Part if it is­
(a) an offensive weapon ; or
(b) an article–
(i) made or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with an offence to which this section refer, or
(ii) intended by the person having it for use by him or by some other person.

(5) The offences to which subsection (4)(b)(i) applies are­ –
(a) burglary ;
(b) theft ; and
(c) offences related to receiving stolen property or of harbouring thieves, or of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty.

(6) In this Part “offensive weapon” means any article-
(a) made or adapted for use for causing injury to persons ; or
(b) intended by the person having it for use by him or by some other person.