Pepper spray as succour for rising attacks on women

It was like a miracle that day, I don’t even know how I got the courage to use it that day but all I can still remember is that I was not robbed because I used pepper spray on that hoodlum,” said Sade Adewoyi, a banker who resides in one of the satellite towns in Abuja.

Ms Adewoyi told Nigerian Telegraph that she was waiting to board a cab about 8 in the evening after a colleague’s birthday party at Garki Area 1 in Abuja when she was accosted by an armed man who ordered her to surrender her valuables.

“As I dipped my hand in my bag to surrender my phone, I remembered I had pepper spray which was given to me by a friend, so I quickly grabbed it and sprayed it uncontrollably at the dark fellow, screaming and running at the same time because I never thought it will be that effective,” she said. It did turn out to be effective as her attacker fled in pain.

Now a full convert, Ms Adewoyi has made pepper spray a permanent fixture inside her handbags.

Unlike her, however, many Nigerian ladies move around unsecured places without having any form of self-protection, thus making them vulnerable to robbery and rape. In recent times, incidents of robbery, kidnap and rape have reportedly been on a steady rise in several parts of the country. In most cases, females are targeted.


A woman demonstrates the use of a 9 oz can of pepper spray.

The pepper spray solution

Bala Dangana, the Managing Director of Stockade Security Services, a company based in Abuja, advises people prone to travel regularly to arm themselves with a can of pepper spray. According to him, pepper spray, like every other lachrymatory agent, is used to cause temporary blindness.


Dagana believes that people should arm themselves with pepper spray.

“Basically, pepper spray is more like a smaller version of a tear gas in a pressurised can for self defence,” he said. “It’s not tactical because it cannot be used for crowd or riot control as it is designed against personal attacks and to protect yourself. It can also be said to be used for distracting or temporary distablising an attacker while you create an exit or escape from the particular scene of attack.”Dangana said various miniature versions of the canned product are readily available. “It is a very small can that can be put in a hand bag or large pockets,” he said. “It has been designed in a way that it can be concealed anywhere you want to have it.”

Pepper spray and the law

According to Dangana, there is no existing law in Nigeria prohibiting individuals or companies from dealing or using pepper spray.

“In some other countries, it is backed up by law to be used for self-defence,” he said. “But what I would advise is for anybody trying to sell pepper spray to also make sure they make their clients sign a non-disclosure agreement so they don’t use it for anything other than self-defence and to protect themselves.

Concerning its legislation, our association, Private Security Practitioners, in Abuja, is currently working on it as we will go through the Inspector General of Police and also to be able to track its usage and its sale.”The police, however, hold a different view.

Mohammed Momoh, a Superintendent of Police of the FCT Command, said one can be arrested when found with any type of lachrymatory agent except when proven beyond reasonable doubt that it was or will be used for self-defence.

“The police will arrest anybody found with it without permission as in the case of other weapons, because the pepper spray, though of lesser effect to the tear gas, is still harmful and can be used otherwise,” he said. “How can we guarantee that it will not be used for criminal purposes if it can be carried by anybody?”

According to him, would be users would need to obtain a permit.

Also, a lawyer, Chinanu Onuorah, said pepper spray is regarded as a weapon and as such may be illegal when found in possession of unauthorised persons.

“It is a type of weapon which is regarded harmful even though it only causes temporary blindness,” he said. ”It can only be allowed when used for self-defence like any other weapon. It is only the security agencies that can approve of its possession and use, though some Nigerians carry it secretly for self-defence; but as of now, there is no law backing the possession of pepper spray by non-security personnel.”

Health effects

According to Dangana, the damaging effect of tear gas is more severe than that of pepper spray.

“When sprayed on human eyes, it will only cause a temporary damage to the eyes for about 30-35 minutes during which even water cannot wash it off just like the tear gas,” he said. “The victim will have to keep on blinking for the eyes to produce tears which will clear it after about half an hour.”

But a medical practitioner at St. Matha Hospital, Abuja, Joseph Dago explained that pepper spray acts as a patent inflammatory agent which amplifiers allergic sensitivities, irritates and damages eyes, membranes, bronchial airways and stomach lining.

“It induces burning sensation in the eyes in parts by damaging cells in the outer layer of the cornea which is healed after some time by blinking consistently but can have greater effect with repeated attacks which can cause permanent damage,” he stated.

Usage and availability



Dangana insists the pepper spray is the perfect self defence tool for especially women. He said the use of pepper spray has recorded a high percentage of success rate without any recorded case of negative use as they have gotten a lot of feedback from users with over 95% of them being women.

“Pepper spray can only be used by adults (18 and above) but I advise 25 years and above,” he said. “If it must be used by an under-age, it has to be with the permission of, and supervision by, their parents or guardian. Even those that are above 18 must have to come with permission from somewhere. You can only buy it from security companies, and if given the contract, private security operators can supply to government security operators but they hardly use this because it is not for tactical use.”

Pepper spray comes in different sizes. A survey of various sales outlets showed the most available to be the 60mm can, sold for N6000.

Dagana believes that people should arm themselves with pepper spray.

duality: I want to buy one here in lagos. any link?