Activists call for state of emergency in Nigeria over gender-based violence
Source: The Guardian
Activists call for state of emergency in Nigeria over gender-based violence
Deaths of 22 women reported this year include 240% rise in January, campaigners say, as abusers act ‘with impunity’
Eromo Egbejule West Africa correspondent
Tue 25 Feb 2025 11.28 GMT
Last modified on Tue 25 Feb 2025 12.13 GMT
Almost two dozen women have died due to gender-based violence across Nigeria in 2025 alone, activists and civil society organisations have said in a call for a state of emergency.
According to Femicide Observatory, run by the Lagos-based nonprofit Document Our History (DOHS) Cares Foundation, there were 17 cases reported in January, a 240% increase from the same period last year, with an additional five by 16 February. More than 100 femicides were documented in 2024.
This month, Emrich Effanga, a hairstylist in the southern town of Uyo, was strangled, allegedly by her boyfriend, an usher in their church. Just weeks before, Mutiat Sholola died, allegedly after her husband stabbed her in the head and attacked her with hot oil in Owode Egba, a few hours outside Lagos. Both men have been arrested.
“Apparently as the trend is globally, home is also the most dangerous place for Nigerian women and girls,” said Ololade Ajayi, the founder of DOHS. “Perpetrators operate with impunity because there’s hardly appropriate consequences for this crime.”
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/25/activists-call-state-emergency-gender-based-violence-nigeria