To What Extent Is Killing in Defence of Property Equal to Right to Life in Nigeria?

Over the years, successive constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have included in their provisions defence of property as a permissible derogation to the right to life in Nigeria. This defence as exception to the right to life appeared to pay host to debates of scholars as to the propriety of equating killing in defence of property to right to life in Nigeria. This paper was commenced by a careful review of Nigerian law on right to life for the purpose of identifying areas that Nigerian law falls below international benchmark for the protection of the life of human person. It was discovered that the major challenge to the protection of right to life in Nigeria has been the lacunae in the Nigerian law. The provisions of Nigerian constitution with regard to the derogations of right to life fall short of global trend on the protection of right to life. A careful review of the problems shows that there is the need for Nigerian constitution to be amended to delete some limitation clauses on the full realisation of right to life in Nigeria.