Is Cannabis / THC legal in Nigeria?

Also known as: weed, marijuana

Legal status

Illegal, and two Acts apply concurrently, which is why accounts of Nigerian cannabis law disagree. The Indian Hemp Act, Cap. I6, LFN 2004 is the cannabis specific statute and remains in force. Section 1 defines Indian hemp as any plant or part of a plant of the genus cannabis, the separated resin whether crude or purified, and any preparation containing that resin, so it covers herbal cannabis, resin and hashish alike. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, LFN 2004 was not a repeal of it. Its section 51 repeals only a subsection of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, and the Dangerous Drugs Act expressly preserves the Indian Hemp Act. Cannabis is not named in NDLEA sections 11 or 19, which name only cocaine, LSD and heroin, but it is named at NDLEA section 20(1)(b) for cultivation, and in practice the NDLEA charges it through the 'any other similar drugs' limb of sections 11 and 19.

Consequences if caught

Which Act is charged decides the penalty, and both are available. Under the Indian Hemp Act, Cap. I6, LFN 2004: knowingly having it in possession, or smoking it, is section 5(1) and carries imprisonment for not less than four years without the option of a fine; possession of a pipe or other smoking utensil is section 6, not less than five years; planting or cultivating is section 2(1), which provides 'either to death or to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty-one years'; importing or knowingly selling is section 3(1) and exporting is section 4, each not less than twenty one years; an occupier who permits premises to be used for selling, smoking or preparing it is section 7(1), not less than ten years without the option of a fine. Under the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, LFN 2004: cultivation of the cannabis plant is section 20(1)(b), life under section 20(2)(a); possession for the purpose of dealing is section 20(1)(c), fifteen to 25 years under section 20(2)(b); and on the similar drugs limb, knowing possession is section 19, fifteen to 25 years, with trafficking under section 11(b). In practice the NDLEA charges under its own Act. In a 2026 Federal High Court case over 4.70 kilograms imported from Canada the charge was laid contrary to section 21(2) and punishable under section 11(b), pleading cannabis as 'a narcotic drug similar to cocaine, LSD, heroin', and the sentence was 15 years with an option of a fine of N1,000,000. Section 21(2) deems a person to commit the offence if he does the act, enables or aids another, counsels or procures another, and section 21(3) makes him liable to the same punishment as the principal offender. The NDLEA Act prescribes no death penalty. Its maximum is imprisonment for life. The death penalty in Indian Hemp Act section 2(1) is on the face of that Act for cultivation. Whether it is imposed in current practice is not something this entry asserts either way. A convicted person aged not more than seventeen receives, under the proviso to Indian Hemp Act section 5(1), twenty one strokes of the cane in addition to two years in a borstal or a fine of N200.

If prescribed or medical

There is no medical cannabis programme. The Indian Hemp Act provisos to sections 3(1) and 5(1) carve out medical preparations of Indian hemp, but only where no offence against the Dangerous Drugs Act is committed, and that Act applies Part III to any extract or tincture of Indian hemp at section 8(1)(b). The carve out therefore sits inside the licensing regime and is held by licensed handlers, not by patients.

Documentation

No document available to a traveller or a patient authorises possession.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Nigeria’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.