Indecent dressing in Delta now punishable by N50,000 fine – Police

Residents of Delta State have been cautioned by the state police command that inappropriate dressing in public could now lead to a N50,000 fine or mandated community service, in line with the provisions of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law.

This notice was shared on Saturday through the police’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle, with the message: “There are some laws that you don’t know the state frowns against. So, every weekend, we will be dropping some of these laws so that you will be aware.”

The police explained that under the law, dressing deemed indecent can attract penalties.

The statement noted, “As you no like wear cloth wey dey cover your body well, and you prefer dey waka go work, school, or anywhere with clothes wey dey show everywhere for your body, make you hear am – Delta state government nor dey smile for that kain dressing. VAAP law don ready to punish anybody wey no dress well.”

The VAPP Act, which was initially signed at the federal level in 2015 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, was adopted in Delta State in July 2020. It is aimed at addressing various forms of violence both in private and public settings, offering legal protection to victims and penalising offenders.

Beyond clothing-related infractions, the law targets a broad range of offences including female genital mutilation, abuse of widows, battery, abandonment of family members, and forced eviction from homes.

According to Section 29 of the Delta State VAPP Law, titled “Indecent Exposure”:(1) A person who intentionally exposes any of his or her private parts wholly or partly in public commits the offence of indecent exposure.(2) A person who commits the offence provided for in subsection (1) of this Section is liable on conviction to perform such community service as the court may order or to pay a fine not exceeding N50,000.00 or both.