Peace Preservation Law

1. Citation. This Law may be cited-as the Peace Preservation Law.

2. Interpretation. In this Law- "air gun" means and includes any weapon which discharges a projectile by means of compressed air or any mechanical contrivance with sufficient force to endanger life; "ammunition" includes any powder or other preparation used to produce explosion, any cap, rocket or cartridge containing such powder or other preparation, any projectile for discharge by such powder preparation and any component parts of the same, and projectiles for air guns and all or other materials for loading-arms; "arms" includes arms of precision and any weapon discharging a projectile by explosion, or any part of such weapon, and also swords, cutlasses, spears, daggers, bows and arrows; "arms of precision" includes magazine guns, rifles, breach loaders, cap guns, flint-locks with rifled barrels and air guns, or any part or parts thereof; "Governor" means the Governor of the Delta State of Nigeria; "proclaimed district" means an area declared by a proclamation under section 3 to be a proclaimed area.

3. Power to declare a proclaimed district. (1) Whenever it shall appear to be necessary for the preservation of public peace in any area of the State, the Governor may declare by proclamation that such area is a proclaimed district for the purposes of this Law. (2) The Governor may by such proclamation or by any subsequent proclamation prescribe the period within which all arms and ammunition in the possession of any person in the proclaimed district other than persons in the service pf the Government and such other persons or class of persons as may be specified in the proclamation (hereinafter referred to as excepted persons), shall be delivered up to such officer as may be specified in the proclamation. (3) A proclamation under subsection (1) may at any time be cancelled by the Governor by notice in the State Gazette and on such cancellation the area shall cease to be a proclaimed district.

4. Suspects may be arrested on warrant. (1) Any person who is reasonably suspected by a Local Government Chairman- (a) as principal or accessory of any offence under Chapter 6 or Chapter 7 of the Criminal Code; or [Cap. C21.] (b) of any offence punishable by law, being an act of violence or intimidation; or (c) of inciting to an act of violence or intimidation tending to interfere with or disturb the maintenance of law and order, in any proclaimed district after the same has been proclaimed, may, on the warrant of a Local Government Chairman be arrested in any part of the State and detained during the continuance of the proclamation in a prison named in the warrant or in such other prison as may be directed by the Governor, without bail, and shall not be discharged or tried by any court without the direction of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, and every such warrant shall, for the purposes of this Law, be conclusive evidence of all matters therein contained and of the jurisdiction to issue and execute such warrant, and of the legality of the arrest and detention of the person mentioned in such warrant. (2) Every such warrant shall state the character of the offence of which the person to be arrested thereunder is suspected. A copy of the warrant shall be given to each person arrested on the occasion of his arrest. (3) A Local Government Chairman who issues such warrant shall immediately send a copy thereof to the Governor and the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. (4) On the expiration of a period of three months after the arrest of each person detained under this section, and so from time to time on the expiration of each succeeding period of three months while such person is detained, the Governor shall, on the advice of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, consider the case of such person and decide thereon, and the decision of the Governor in that behalf shall be certified under his hand or under the hand of the Secretary to Government and shall be forwarded to the officer in charge of the prison in which such person is detained, who shall record such decision by endorsement on the warrant filed in his office.

5. Penalty for assisting suspect. Any person who knowingly receives, relieves, comforts, assists or conceals any person against whom a warrant has been issued under section 4 shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for six months or to a fine of two thousand naira.

6. Prohibition on having arms or ammunition in a proclaimed district. (1) After the expiration of the period within which arms and ammunition are required by any proclamation to be delivered up, no person, other than excepted persons, shall have or carry arms or ammunition in a proclaimed district. (2) Any person contravening the provisions of this section shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for three months or a fine of one thousand naira and the forfeiture of the arms and ammunition.

7. Arrest of persons having arms. Any person having or carrying or reasonably suspected of having or carrying any arms or ammunition in contravention of this Law may be arrested without warrant by any magistrate or police officer; and conveyed before a magistrate to be dealt with according to the Law; and any arms or ammunition had or carried in contravention of this Law may be seized and forfeited.

8. Search warrant. (1) A magistrate may himself enter and search, or may by warrant direct any person named in such warrant to enter and search, any house, building, vessel of place within a proclaimed district for any arms or ammunition or for any person, against whom a warrant has been issued under section 4, suspected to be therein. (2) Such warrant shall be valid notwithstanding that the houses, buildings, vessels or places to be searched are not specified thereon, the same being houses, buildings, vessels or places in a specified area. (3) A magistrate or the person named in the warrant may call to their assistance any other person, who may use such reasonable force as may be necessary.

9. Manner in which arms delivered up shall be dealt with. (1) The officer to whom any arms and ammunition shall be delivered, in accordance with the directions of a proclamation under section 3 shall keep a register of the arms and ammunition delivered to him and of the person by whom they have been delivered. (2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) the arms and ammunition delivered as aforesaid shall be detained by the officer whilst the area continues to be a proclaimed district and on the area ceasing to be a proclaimed district shall be returned to the persons who shall have delivered the same or who shall appear to the officer to be entitled thereto. (3) The Governor may- (a) at any time order all or any of the arms or ammunition to be returned to the persons who shall have delivered the same or who may appear to be entitled thereto; or (b) order that the arms or ammunition detained or any of them shall not be returned and shall be forfeited: Provided that the Governor may in such case, if he thinks proper, direct that the persons otherwise entitled to the arms or ammunition shall be paid out of general revenue the value of the same to be determined by such officer as the Governor may appoint.

10. Acts and omissions by chief, local government council in case of riot, etc., in a proclaimed district. If a rebellion, civil commotion or riot resulting in harm to any person or loss of life or damage to property shall take place in a proclaimed district, any chief, local government council who or which takes part in, instigates or neglects to take proper measures to prevent or suppress such rebellion, civil commotion or riot, or neglects to bring to justice or deliver up persons taking part in or accused or suspected of having taken part in such rebellion, civil commotion or riot, shall be liable on conviction to a fine of three thousand naira or to imprisonment for three years.

11. Cost of additional troops or police in a proclaimed district. When additional troops or police have been sent to or stationed in a proclaimed district the Governor may order that all or any of the inhabitants of such proclaimed district shall be charged with the whole or any portion of the cost of such additional troops or police. [LBSN 1976, Cap. 114.]

12. Power of magistrate in preventing disturbances. In any proclaimed district any magistrate or commissioned military or superior police officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a rebellion, civil commotion or riot is taking place or about to take place may do all things necessary for preventing the same, and may use all such force as is reasonably necessary for preventing the same or for overcoming any resistance which may be made, and shall not be liable for having, by use of such force, caused harm or death to any person, except in criminal proceedings at the instance of the Attorney-General, or in civil proceedings.

13. Officers and soldiers of the armed forces to have powers of arrest. In any proclaimed district all officers and soldiers of the armed forces shall in addition to any other powers of arrest conferred on them by any of the provisions of this Law have all the powers of arrest of a police officer.