Warrant Of Arrest

Every warrant of arrest shall bear the date of is
sue, shall contain all necessary particulars and shall be signed by the judge or magistrate by whom it is issued.
The warrant is expected to state concisely the offence or matter for which it is issued and shall name or otherwise describe the person to be arrested, and it shall order the police officer or officers to whom it is directed to arrest the person and bring him before the court to answer the complaint or statement, or to testify or others wise according to the circumstance of the case and to be further dealt with according to law.
All warrant of arrest must be made in writing on oat by the complainant himself or by a warrant witness.  Note that warrant of arrest may  be issued on any day, including Sundays or public holidays.  A warrant of arrest may be directed to a police officer by name or to all police officers but in some exceptional cases, a court issuing a warrant of arrest may if its immediate execution is necessary and no police officer is immediately available, direct it to some other person(s) as the person(s) shall execute the warrant.
The person executing a warrant of arrest  directed to him shall have all the powers, rights, privileges and protection given to or afforded by law to a police officer executing a warrant of arrest and shall confirm with the requirement placed by law on such a police officer.  A warrant shall not be returnable at any particular time; it shall remain in force until it is executed or until it is cancelled by a judge or a magistrate, as the case may be.
Procedures for execution of warrant.
Every warrant of arrest may be executed  on any day including Sunday and public holidays.
Every such warrant may be executed by a police officer at any time and in any place other than the court room.
The person executing the warrant, shall before making the arrest, inform the person to be arrested that there is a warrant for his arrest unless there is reasonable cause  for abstaining room giving such information on the grounds that it is likely to occasion escape, resistance or rescue.
Also note that a warrant of arrest may be executed  not withstanding that it is not in the possession of the person executing it, but the warrant shall on the demand by the person arrested, be shown to him within a reasonable time in a state different from the state where the warrant of arrest is issued, the following procedure has to be followed:
1. The warrant of arrest will be taken before a magistrate  within the state where the offender resides or is found.  The magistrate will be required to endorse the warrant of arrest after having satisfied himself that:
i. The warrant of arrest was indeed issued by a competent authority such as magistrate, judge, superior police officer or justice of peace; and
ii. That the alleged offence is one that is known to the law of the state, which issues the warrant.
In Commissioner of Police V Apanpa (Unreported) M/42/1968 High Court  Lagos State, an Alkali Court issued a warrant of arrest in the then Benue/Plateau State a Magistrate Court in Lagos endorsed it.  In accordance with the endorsement of the warrant of arrest by the Alkali Court, the Magistrate court in Lagos ordered that the person arrested under the warrant be taken back to Benue/Plateau state, the person applied to the High Court to set aside  the order of the magistrate court.  It was held that the Nlkali court was not competent to issue a warrant of arrest  because it was not a court as contemplated by the law and consequently the magistrate court in Lagos should not have endorsed the warrant.

Nkechi Bright Ewere