Sir: When news broke of the boxing match that happened between Nigerian street-pop artist Habeeb Badmus, popularly known as Portable, and Nollywood actor Charles Okocha—and more recently, between Portable and another singer known as “Akpi” —the primary focus in public discourse was entertainment. Yet, what piqued my scholarly interest was a less explored dimension, which is the legality of it all under Nigerian criminal law.
Section 83 of the Criminal Code provides that any person who takes part in a fight in a public place is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for one year. The decision in Areh v. C.O.P. (1959) W.N.L.R. 230 further established that the offence is complete once fighting occurs in a public space—whether or not it causes public alarm. More broadly, in Button v. D.P.P. [1965] 3 W.L.R., the House of Lords held that, under English law, the offence may be constituted even if the fight did not occur in a public place.
In Nigeria, Section 85 of the Criminal Code Act illustrates the seriousness of orchestrated violence by criminalising any challenge to a duel. It states that any person who challenges another to fight, or provokes another to issue such a challenge, is guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for three years.
Now, can entertainment serve as a defence to affray? My answer is no. Self-defence is an example of a good excuse in law. While the law recognises the right to use reasonable force in self-defence, this only applies within the limits of lawful conduct. If a fight occurs as mutual combat without provocation or imminent threat, it does not qualify as self-defence but becomes a punishable act under the law
The 8th edition of Black’s Law Dictionary defines affray as a fight by mutual consent in a public place, to the terror of onlookers. The fight must be mutual. If one party is the aggressor and the other merely defends themselves, it constitutes assault and battery, not affray. This leads to a critical question: Must there be a terrified bystander for the offence of affray to be complete?
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What if the crowd is not terrified but rather entertained as it seems to be the case in celebrity fights?
This brings us to the notional bystander test. In R v. Sanchez [1996] Crim LR 572, the court emphasised that the test does not rely on the actual victim’s fear but on whether a hypothetical reasonable bystander would feel threatened. In I and Others v. DPP [2001] UKHL 10, the House of Lords affirmed that a “victim” must exist, but in Leeson v. DPP [2010] EWHC 994, the High Court clarified that if violence is focused solely on one participant without endangering others, affray may not be made out.
Interestingly, Nigerian law does not heavily emphasise the psychological impact on bystanders. It adopts a more categorical stance. Section 35 of the Criminal Code Act criminalises participation in, subscription to, or promotion of a prize fight—with a one-year prison term as punishment. Similarly, under Section 54 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State where the fight took place, anyone who takes part in a public fight is guilty of an offence and liable to six months’ imprisonment.
The recent boxing match between Portable and Akpi, branded “Chaos In The Ring,” took place at the Balmoral Convention Centre in Lagos. The key legal question becomes this – Was this truly a fight in the legal sense?
To answer this, we must interrogate definitions. The Oxford Law Dictionary defines a fight as “a violent struggle involving the exchange of physical blows or use of weapons.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the use of physical force to try to defeat another person or group.”
The Criminal Code Act defines a “public place” as: Any building, place, or conveyance to which the public is entitled or permitted to have access, with or without condition or payment, including those used for public or religious meetings. A “public way” includes: Any highway, marketplace, square, street, bridge, or other way lawfully used by the public.
Clearly, a convention centre with ticketed entry such as where this celebrity fight took place, open to the general public, qualifies as a public place. Therefore, the legal ingredients of affray or prize-fighting seem prima facie present.
What then excludes such events from criminal liability under Nigerian law? The short answer is: nothing. No statutory exception currently legalises prize fights or public brawls for entertainment, no matter how professionally staged. That the police turn a blind eye to these events does not confer legality upon them. In criminal jurisprudence, acquiescence is not immunity.
So, the point I am labouring to make is that, while celebrity fights may amuse the public, they occupy a precarious space in Nigerian criminal law. As a people, we may derive joy even from chaos, but the law is seldom so accommodating. Until the legislature provides a regulatory framework for such entertainment events, perhaps akin to athletic commissions abroad, those involved may well be treading the fine line between spectacle and criminality.
•David Bassey Ant Topfaith University, Mkpatak,Akwa Ibom State