When a husband and wife of a Christian marriage are living together, neither of them incurs any criminal responsibility for doing or omitting to do any act with respect to the property of the other, except in the case of an act or omission of which an intention to injure or defraud some other person is an element, and except in the case of an act done by either of them when leaving or deserting, or when about to leave or desert, the other.
Subject to the foregoing provisions, a husband and wife are, each of them, criminally responsible for any act done by him or her with respect to the property of the other, which would be an offence if they were not husband and wife, and to the same extent as if they were not husband and wife.
But in the case of a Christian marriage neither of them can institute criminal proceedings against the other while they are living together.
In this section, the term "property" used with respect to a wife means her separate property.
Section 36 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria
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