Lose a phone, a passport or an important document, and one of the first things you may be asked for is a police extract. Here is what that actually is.
What a police extract records
A police extract is the police's own record that you reported something lost. It is not the same as a general character check. It exists specifically to document a single reported loss, at a point in time.
Where it sits on POSSAP
A fee-based police service, under the Police Act 2020 and the Force Order. It is requested on possap.gov.ng, the same portal used for the character certificate covered in applying on POSSAP.
Being fee-based tells you it is not a free walk-in service. What it does not tell you is the amount. This site found no published figure for a police extract, so treat any number you see elsewhere as unconfirmed until your own invoice shows it.
Part of POSSAP's original service list
POSSAP launched in June 2022, and police extracts were among the services reported as available from the start. That places the police extract alongside the character certificate as one of the portal's longest-running offerings, rather than a recent addition.
How it feeds into a lost passport application
The Nigeria Immigration Service lists a police extract for loss of passport as one of the documents for replacing a lost passport. It sits alongside a sworn affidavit for loss of passport from the High Court, not instead of it.
That detail matters, because it means a police extract alone is unlikely to be enough for NIS. Budget time for both documents, not just the one that feels more obvious to get first.
How it feeds into an affidavit of loss
A sworn affidavit of loss typically states, under oath, what was lost and the circumstances. A police extract can support that statement with an official police record of the same reported loss, made at the time.
Neither document substitutes for the other. Where both are asked for, both need to exist.
Getting the order right
Report the loss and request your police extract first, while the details are fresh and easy to state consistently. Then use that record to inform your affidavit, so both documents describe the same loss the same way.
Common mistakes
- Assuming "police report" and "police extract" always mean the exact same form. Confirm what the specific requester means before applying.
- Treating the police extract as free. It sits among POSSAP's fee-based services, even without a published amount.
- Getting the affidavit sworn before the details are settled. A mismatch between the two documents is avoidable with the right order.
For the character certificate side of POSSAP, see what is POSSAP, and for more on this cluster, browse our police certificate articles.