This just crossed my mind. Is there any legal protection for anyone who UNKNOWINGLY buys stolen property or goods. Does the law absolve such a person?

By Nigerian law, yes. In francophone countries, no.

Ignorance is not an excuse in law

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No protection bro. I slept in cell for three days and was almost charged to court. All because I bought a stolen phone unknowingly with ma money.
You can buy it, but please get a receipt from the seller

It has become a recurrent issue in Nigeria today as I remember when in 1996 or thereabouts one of the masons who worked on our site said he had bags of Cement for sale and we bought to augment what we had. The next week my mom was whisked to the station and she stayed for about five hours. She could have stayed much longer but for 'timely intervention'.
Since then I have come accross several cases especially with phone theft and electronic gadgets. One may easily argue that you should always ask for receipts but be that as it may, Nigeria is rife with 'unreceipted' secondhand purchases both 'clean' and 'unclean'. Does the Law in realization of such perculiarity in our society not offer reprieve for the innocent?