By: Chidalu Glory
The alarming rate of femicide in Nigeria is becoming worrisome. Nigeria is one of the African countries with a high rate of GBV and rising cases of femicide. According to a report by the United Nations, in 2022, a total number of 89,000 women and girls were killed globally, while 401 women died from SGBV in Nigeria. The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics 2019 survey showed that 68% of Nigerian women have experienced sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. 1 out of 3 women globally (736 million) have been subjected to physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime since the age of 15, according to UN Women.
According to UN Women, femicide is the intentional murder of women because they are women. Femicide is an escalating crisis across the world. The second most frequent perpetrators of this crime are male family members (a woman’s father, uncle, brother, partner and at times aided by a female relative). According to the WHO, femicide is distinct from homicide, as most cases of femicide with gender power imbalance where one party (male) extracts dominance over the other (woman) are often motivated and influenced by patriarchy and gender inequality. It also involves ongoing abuse in the home, threats or intimidation, and sexual violence.
Africa is the second-highest region with the number of femicides by partners and family (19,000 cases), with Asia topping it with 20,000 cases. But when considered by the size of the population, Africa tops the poll with a femicide rate of 3.1% per 100,000 women, followed by America with 1.6% deaths per 100,000. Experts say this is an underreported number, as many governments around the globe do not report femicide.
Eucharia Anekwe, a woman development advocate and state coordinator of Child Protection Network, said in an interview with Platform Times that one of the reasons cases of femicide are underreported is because of the stigma involved.
“Cases are not adequately reported for many reasons. First, some are threatened with death by the perpetrators. Long and delayed justice also contributes. Also, there is a lack of funding for case follow-up by the victim’s family. The fear of stigmatisation by society, especially when it is a sexual and gender-based violence case.”
“If our judicial system bounces back to transparency, crowned with speedy justice, Nigeria can address these cases.”
The lack of appropriate data on femicide in the country contributes to the underreported cases in the country. Femicide cases often go unreported due to the culture of silence and victim blaming. Most often, as it is prevalent on social media platforms, victims of GBV and femicide are often stigmatised and shamed. You hear statements that suggest that they deserve it due to their greediness or prostitution. An instance is the recent case of a commissioner of police who told women protesting against the killing of women in Portharcourt to advise their daughters to shun prostitution.
Also, reporting cases of femicide and GBV is often a hassle, as Nigerian police are not victim- or survivor-friendly and do not take femicide seriously. In Nigeria, out of 11,053 reported cases of rape and femicide, in which 401,592 are closed while only 33 persons had been convicted. Most of these cases drag on for years, and victims often do not get justice.
The victim-blaming culture of victims of GBV and femicide absolves the perpetrators of accountability and also discourages women from reporting incidences of abuse. Also, the patriarchal structures that reinforce power imbalance contribute to this crisis as women seem subordinate and inferior, which leads to the normalization of abuse against women.
Recent social media exposures
A few weeks ago, social media was abuzz following the death of Christiannah Odogwu, a 300l student at Olabanjo University who was allegedly murdered by her friend Ayomide Adeteye, who initially kidnapped, raped, and murdered her after receiving ransom money from the family. Christiannah went missing on August 19, 2024, on her way to the University of Lagos for her IT training. The abductor, Ayomide, demanded the sum of N1.5 million for her release. The parents managed to raise N350,000 and send it to a betting account provided by the abductor. Despite this, communication with Ayomide ceased, which raised alarms. Security operatives got involved, and through phone tracking, he was apprehended in his parent’s house in Ikorodu, Lagos. The suspect confessed to killing Christiannah and burying her at his family’s compound. It was also discovered that Ayomide had previously been involved in the murder of his late girlfriend and sister.
According to research by the DOHS Care Foundation, this is the 76th known femicide case in Nigeria since this year. Nigeria has recently reported some of the highlighted cases of femicide.
Kumapayi Arinola was stabbed to death by her husband, Onipede Dare, in Ekiti State over alleged infidelity.
Aminat, an elderly woman was murdered by her son Lukman Adejoju over an oil sales disagreement.
Ocheze Ogbonna, a female crane operator at Inner Galaxy Steel Company was pushed to her death by a Chinese national after allegedly rejecting his romantic advances.
A 23-year-old man allegedly stabbed his elderly mother to death in Obiaruku, Delta State.
The case of Augusta, who was murdered by her boyfriend Killaboi.
Juliana, who was killed by her husband David Idibe in Lagos, and Osinachi Nwachukwu, who died after suffering domestic abuse from her husband Peter Nwachukwu. Others include the cases of Uwaila, Barakat, Iniobong, Bamise, and Precious, among others.
Social media have played an important role in revealing the alarming state of femicide in the country. It has revealed the scary pandemic of crime against women. The above stories highlight the brutality women face daily the need for justice and the establishment of more stringent laws to protect women.
Reactions from women
Women are leading protests in different parts of the country, urging the government to criminalize femicide and make more stringent laws that protect women. In Port Harcourt, police are investigating the possibility of a serial killer following the deaths of at least eight women since July this year, all murdered in a similar pattern. All eight women were lured to hotels and strangled to death. The women took to the streets to protest, urging the police to arrest the perpetrator.
In social media as well, women are calling out perpetrators of GBV while urging government bodies to help in advocating and creating space for women.
Also, the DOHS Cares Foundation and NGO focused on women’s matters and led a protest against femicide in Nigeria. The group led the protest to the state assembly and presented a bill to criminalize femicide in the state.
Eucharia Anekwe said the rising rate of femicide can also be linked to the high rate of unemployment and hardship in Nigeria.
“There is an increase in femicide and GBV in Nigeria because of hardships that lead to frustration, so some of the men and young boys thought that the only way to remedy the situation is by taking hard drugs, alcoholic drinks, and many others, which eventually lands them into either transferring their aggressions to their women, daughters, wives, sisters and even mothers.”
“Sometimes they resort to frightening activities to enable them to get out of the situation by trying to make money by all means. Women being the most vulnerable are usually victims of their rituals.”
She also pleaded with the government and law enforcement agencies to provide speedy justice to cases of femicide and also empower the youths to curb this crisis.
“The government, law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, families, churches, school heads, and many more have a lot of work to do towards reducing this monster,” she said.
“The government should reduce the rate of unemployment by providing jobs for the citizens that are of working age because an adage said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” she advised.
“There should be speedy justice for the survivors/victims of GBV to serve as deterrents to others. For Anambra State, we have a designated court for GBV cases, but I think that more still has to be done to speed up the cases in the court,” she added.
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