Section 88: A. Provoking breach of peace by offensive publication

(1) Any person who‐
(a) in any manner or form publishes or displays or offers to the public the pictorial
representation of any person living or dead in a manner likely to provoke any section
of the community; or
[1966 No. 44.]
(b) publishes or circulates publications either in the form of newspapers, or leaflets,
periodicals, pamphlets or posters, if such publications are likely to provoke or bring
into disaffection any section of the community; or
(c) sings songs, plays any instrument or recording of sounds, or sells, lends, or lets on
hire any
record of sounds, the words of which are likely to provoke any section of the
community,
is guilty of an offence for which he may be arrested without warrant by any police
officer or member of the armed forces in uniform, and upon conviction is liable to a
fine of one hundred naira or to imprisonment for a term of three months, or to both
such fine and imprisonment; and the court convicting may order confiscation of any
material (including records) used for purposes contemplated by this section and of any
instrument used in connection therewith.
(2) Where any person is subsequently convicted of the like or any other offence under
this section of this Code, the penalty shall be the maximum prescribed for the offence.
(3) It shall be a defence to any person charged under this section of this Code with
selling, lending or letting on hire of any record that after reasonable inquiry was made
by him before the sale, lending or hiring out as the case may be, (the proof of which
inquiry shall lie upon the person charged with the offence), he was unaware of the
possibility that it might be used for purposes mentioned in subsection (1) of this Code,
and thereafter withdrew the record from sale or recalled any record lent or hired out
by him.
(4) This section of this Code shall have effect notwithstanding any other penalty which
may be prescribed for an offence of a similar nature in any criminal code or penal code
in force in Nigeria.
Interpretation
(5) In this section, unless the context otherwise requires‐
"pictorial representation" includes any photograph, and any plate or film, positive or
negative; "recorded" means sounds collected or stored by means of any tape, disc,
cylinder or other means whatsoever where the sounds are capable of being
reproduced or are intended for reproduction by electrical or mechanical means at any
time or from time to time thereafter, and includes the matrix,and cognate expressions
shall have the like meaning; "sounds" includes speech and mere noise.
Part 3. OFFENCES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION OF LAW AND JUSTICE AND
AGAINST PUBLIC AUTHORITY
Chapter 11. Disclosure of official secrets and abstracting document