Days after the Head of Police Public Complaint
Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), ACP Abayomi Shogunle, advised consenting members
of the public to engage in public sex in their cars, the Lagos State Command,
on Wednesday countered his submission.
The state Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, in
a statement said such act of public indecency is not allowed in the state.
The statement made available to THISDAY by the
state police spokesperson, CSP Chike Oti, stipulated that the law holds that
such offender is liable on conviction to two years imprisonment.
He said: "The attention of the state Commissioner
of Police, Edgal, has been drawn to an online publication credited to
@POLICENG_PCRRU to the effect that 'Sex in a car in a public place is not a
crime in Nigeria provided; location is not a place of worship; parties are
18years plus, the act is consensual (agreed to by parties) and parties are of
opposite sex.
“If threatened with arrest over above, please
contact @POLICENG_PCRRU'.
"Sequel to the development, the CP Lagos has been advised by the Director of Public
Prosecution of the state Ministry of Justice and the Legal Department of the state Police Command,
Panti, Yaba, with relevant sections of
the law as follows: Section 134 (a) Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 prohibits
any indecent act in any public place without lawful excuse. The law holds that
such person is liable on conviction to two years imprisonment.
"Section 136 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State
2015, provides that any person who commits any act of gross indecency with
another person in public commits an offence and liable on conviction to three
years imprisonment.
"It must be noted that section 134 which deals
with offences against morality, particularly section 134 (a), has it that
indecent act in a public place makes both parties engaging in the act liable to
imprisonment for two years.
"In the same vein, section 231 of the Criminal
Code Act which is a federal law and applicable in states other than the
northern states where Penal Code is applicable, also make indecent acts
punishable.
"Going forward, the authorities of the Lagos
State Police Command hereby declares that the assertion that sex in a car in a
public place is not a crime in Nigeria is misplaced as the provisions of the
Criminal Law of Lagos State prohibits such acts in public, even if it is done
with consent of the other party.
"To this end, Edgal wants Lagosians to be guided
by relevant sections of the law against such acts."
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