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OFFENCES & PENALTY ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN NIGERIA

OFFENCES & PENALTY ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN NIGERIA

by | Dec 8, 2014 | Uncategorized

The public health of a society or community
is very important to the general welfare of everyone in that society or community.
A good example that depicts the importance was the recent Ebola outbreak in
certain African countries, if you followed the news and updates from neighboring
countries who were worst hit by the virus, you must have observed their
respective governments instituting policies and measures to control the
breakout such as issuing directives that certain areas be quarantined and
placing curfews to prevent movement and spread of the virus. Such instances show
how important governments work hard to ensure the health of its citizenry is
protected and you will always find an abundance of laws which aim to punish and
prevent exposing the public to health hazards, for instance the Nigerian
Criminal Code Act. 

Section 243 of the Act provides that –

  • Any person who sells, as food or drink, or
    has in his possession with intent to sell it as food or drink, any article which
    has been rendered or has become noxious, or is in a state unfit for food and
    drink, knowing or having reason to believe that the same is noxious as food or
    drink, or is in a state unfit for food or drink is guilty of a misdemeanor, and
    is liable to imprisonment for one year. Examples of these are merchants who
    sell expired drugs and food items.    
  • Any
    person who adulterates any article of food or drink, so as to make such article
    noxious as food or drink, intending to sell such articles as food or drink is
    guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for one year.      
  • Also, anyone who with intention to sell or
    provide for public consumption any carcass of any animal which has died of any
    disease is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for one year
    (Section 244). 
  • Furthermore, anyone who corrupts or fouls water from any spring,
    stream or river which renders it less fit for the purpose for which it is
    ordinarily used is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for
    six months (Section 245). 
  • It is also a misdemeanor to bury a corpse in a house
    without the consent of the President or Governor and such person is liable to
    imprisonment for 6 months.
It should be noted that anyone who vitiates
the atmosphere so as to make it noxious to the health of persons in general or
spreads any infectious disease dangerous to life is guilty of a misdemeanor and
liable to 6 months in prison.
Adedunmade Onibokun
@adedunmade
     

THE LAW ON ASSAULTING WOMEN

by | Sep 5, 2014 | Uncategorized

Source: Google

SCENARIO 1

It’s been a long week for John, finally it’s TGIF and he can’t
wait to get out of his work routine and meet up with Bisi, a very beautiful girl
he just met at the mall the previous week, they had exchanged text messages and
phone calls for the past week and it just seemed like an eternity before their
date at 5pm.  John was turned up and
excited at the thought of dining with Bisi and he hoped to invite her to his
apartment later on in the night. 

Finally, its 10pm, after a lovely meal at the Chinese restaurant
in Ikeja G.R.A, Bisi and John are sitting on his couch paying little attention
to the News on Channelstv and finally John makes his move, he tries to kiss Bisi
but she refuses and playfully pushes him away. John who does not intend to take
no for answer holds Bisi down and begins to touch her. Bisi is scared at this
point and shouts for John to leave her alone, John pays no heed to her calls
for freedom, he forces himself upon her and rapes her. 
THE LAW
By provision of Chapter 30 of the Criminal Code Act, CAP
C38, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004; Section 357 provides
that;
“Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or
girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by
force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm,
or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the
nature of the act, or, in the case of a married woman, by personating her
husband, is guilty of an offence which is called rape”.

The law further provides that any person who commits the offence of rape is
liable to imprisonment for life, with or without caning while a person who
attempts to commit the offence of rape is guilty of a felony, and is liable to
imprisonment for 14 years, with or without caning.

SCENARIO 2
Chucks, Femi, Aminu and Teju are flat mates. Chucks invites a
girl he met earlier over. Immediately she walks in, Chucks locks the door, Femi
holds her hands, Aminu rips off her clothes and Teju covers her mouth to
prevent her from screaming, they physically assault her but however do not rape
her before they let her go. 
THE LAW
Section 360 of the Criminal Code Act further
states that any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults a woman or girl
is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for two years. Also any
person who, with intent to marry or carnally know a female of any age, or to
cause her to be married, or carnally known by any other person, takes her away,
or detains her against her will, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to
imprisonment for seven years.

SCENARIO 3
Hakeem approaches his friend Mustapha for the hand of his 14
year old daughter, Amina in marriage but Mustapha refuses. Hakeem then lures Amina
to his hotel where he hides Amina for 3 days. Mustapha is distraught at the disappearance
of his daughter and after involving the police discovers Amina in Hakeem’s
hotel.  
THE LAW
Section 362 of the Act states that any person who unlawfully
takes an unmarried girl under the age of sixteen out of the protection of her
parents or guardians against the will of such parents will be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for two years. It is immaterial if
the offender believed the girl to be above the age of sixteen or if the girl
was taken with her consent.

It is important that any female who has
been the victim of any of the acts mentioned above should file a complaint at
the police station nearest to her in other to ensure the prosecution of the
offender.
Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.
@adedunmade 
@adedunmade 
Adedunmade Onibokun is a legal practitioner, publisher and blogger. He
holds an LLM in International Business Law from the University of
Bradford and publishes the Nigerian law blog Legalnaija.