When Male Security Officers can Search Females.
By Onyekachi Umah,Esq.
Daily Law Tips (Tip 240)
When Male Security Officers can Search Females.
Above all, all searches must be conducted decently. By law, a person can be physically searched by a police officer (or any law enforcement officer) of same sex. However, where there is an urgent situation or in the interest of justice it is impossible for same sex police officer to conduct physical search, a police officer of opposite sex can search a person of opposite sex.
Hence, a male police officer can search a female suspect in such circumstances in any part of Nigeria. This extends to any officer of any law enforcement agency in Nigeria created by Act of National Assembly, like EFCC, DSS, NSA, NDLEA, ICPC, Customs, NAPTIP, Prisons and Civil Defence. However, this excludes all the private security companies and their officers.
This work was earlier published with the title: “Situations where a Male Security Officer can search Females in Nigeria”.
References:
1. Sections 9(3) and 494 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and similar laws across the states in Nigeria.
Credit: SabiLaw
