Can You Be Jailed for Debt in Nigeria ? | O.T Phillips

There is a long-standing fear in Nigeria that a person who owes money can be thrown into prison simply because the creditor is tired of waiting. The law does not support that belief. In Nigeria, you cannot be imprisoned merely for owing a debt. A loan, an unpaid balance or any civil debt does not amount to a crime and the police have no authority to arrest a citizen for a purely civil obligation.

However, this is only the beginning of what the law actually says. While owing money is not a criminal offence, a debtor may still face serious consequences once the matter gets to court and a judgment is entered. The law draws a clear line between imprisonment for debt, which is not allowed, and imprisonment for disobeying a lawful court order, which is allowed. When a court gives a judgment directing repayment and the judgment debtor refuses to obey further lawful orders made during enforcement, the court can commit that person to prison for contempt. This punishment is not for owing money but for disregarding the authority of the court.

Another dimension that many people overlook is the power of the court to attach and sell the judgment debtor’s property to satisfy the judgment debt. Once a creditor obtains judgment, the creditor has a right to apply for various enforcement mechanisms. One of the most common and effective methods is attachment and sale of the debtor’s movable or immovable property. The law allows the court to order the seizure and sale of such property in order to liquidate the judgment debt. In such cases, the debtor may lose valuable assets, not because owing is a crime, but because the court is enforcing a lawful judgment.

So the full legal position is this. You cannot be jailed simply for owing a debt in Nigeria. You can, however, be jailed for refusing to obey a lawful court order made during judgment enforcement. And even where imprisonment is not used, the court can still order the seizure and sale of your property to settle the judgment debt. Debt may not be a crime, but once a matter becomes a judgment debt, the consequences of non-compliance can be very real.

O.T Phillips,Esq