The Pragmatic Nature of Private Defence under Criminal Jurisprudencein Nigeria

The study aimed at examining the practical operation of the right to private defence in Nigeria by virtue of the various constitutive legal instruments operating in the field of criminal jurisprudence. The sources of information relied upon here, are relevant statutes, texts, journals (both local and international) and conference papers. The finding is that the enabling provisions on the subject matter are not smooth sailing. This is because the exercise of the right to private defence is further tied to the satisfaction of certain conditions which ordinarily the user will not advert his mind too and if case is not taken, in the attempt to prevent the commission of an offence which is about to be done to him, he becomes criminally liable in the reverse. In this regard, the study concluded that there is the problem of uncertainty as far as the instruments of self defence are concerned. In order to erase the problem of uncertainty, the user of the right must exercise caution in order to succeed in the courts, pending when an amendment is made.