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Summary
There is a disturbing rise in violence against women in Nigeria, including recent cases where men killed women they knew for money or rituals. Experts say the problem stems from deep-rooted sexism, a failing justice system, and a culture that often devalues women, calling for urgent change to protect women’s lives
Nigerians were thrown into shock on September 5th when the death of Christianah Idowu, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), was reported.
Christianah was murdered by Ayomide Adeleye, 23, a 200-level Philosophy student at Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU). She had gone missing on August 19 while travelling from Ita Oluwo to the University of Lagos in Yaba, where she was undergoing industrial training. Her death was only revealed weeks later on social media.
Adeleye, who had known the victim for three years through their church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, confessed to strangling Idowu when she visited his home to have her phone repaired.
While confessing, he said, “I killed her because I had financial problems. I thought of the problems and decided to strangle her while she was busy going through my phone.”
In another incident, 20-year-old Paul Jeremiah was arrested by the Kogi State Police Command on September 12 for the alleged murder of Damilola, a 19-year-old first-year student at the Federal University, Lokoja.
Jeremiah murdered her and harvested her organs for ritual purposes after demanding and receiving a ransom of N400,000 from her family. According to him, he met a native doctor on TikTok who requested the body parts to carry out the rituals.
Recently, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, FCT Command, arrested Joseph Efe, 30, accused of taking a woman to a hotel in Abuja with the intent of using her for ritual purposes.
The suspect was arrested on September 17 on charges of kidnapping, robbery, and the attempted murder of Olivia Ijeoma Chukwuemeka, a 25-year-old woman from Abia State.
These male attacks on women continue to rise, raising serious concerns.
Disturbing Data
Seventy-eight cases of violence against women have been reported since the beginning of the year, according to DOHS Cares Foundation, an NGO that protects women, children, and vulnerable people from abuse, violence, and exploitation.
The data, drawn from different states—with Lagos having the highest number of cases of violence against women—shows that the culprits behind these attacks are often people who have some kind of relationship with the victims.
“This data means that we have a serious problem of femicide on our hands, and these deaths are usually characterised by sexual or domestic violence,” said Ololade Ajayi, founder of DOHS Cares Foundation.
“In 2024 alone, 78 women and girls have died at the hands of their intimate partners, relatives, or acquaintances. What these deaths have in common is the characteristics above and the fact that they are usually violent deaths: raped to death, beaten to death, slaughtered, decapitated, burned to death,” she added.
According to a 2023 document released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 15 per cent of divorced/separated/widowed women and 9 per cent of married women have experienced sexual violence. Additionally, 49 per cent of divorced/separated/widowed women and 35 per cent of married women have experienced spousal violence, indicating about half of husbands abuse their wives.
In a report by Amnesty International titled “The State of the World’s Human Rights: April 2024,” there were 24,720 reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence in 2023.
A part of the report reads: “According to the Minister of Women’s Affairs, as of October, there were 24,720 reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence during the year, including 975 deaths. On June 15, an eight-month pregnant woman was raped by John Akpo at Irabi, Benue State. On June 22, the police arrested Chukwuemeka Orji for raping a 13-year-old domestic worker in Aba, Abia State.”
“On July 14, the mutilated body of 32-year-old Dorcas Shangev was found in Makurdi, Benue State. On July 15, 27-year-old Chinyere Awuda was beaten to death and dumped in an abandoned hotel pool in Awka, Anambra State.”
Experts Provide a Way Out
Women’s rights activist Ọmọlọlá Pedro said the reason for these attacks against women can be attributed to the patriarchal nature of Nigerian society. According to her, political, economic, legal, and justice systems have failed to protect the rights of women.
“For a deeply rooted patriarchal society like Nigeria, men’s murder of women would pass for a normal thing. I’d also say that our political, economic, legal, and justice systems have failed us. The justice system especially contributes massively to the rise in these killings, as justice in Nigeria is like chasing a shadow,” she said.
Pedro emphasised that when a criminal is not punished for a crime, it emboldens others, and offences that are considered minor (not capital) that go unpunished lay the foundation for capital ones to be committed.
“Sexual abuse and other GBV acts go unpunished. Men killing women is just like icing on the cake for these criminals,” she added.
Pedro, who identified patriarchy as the root cause of violence against women, said that one way forward is a social revolution. She believes that the reason for the incessant attacks against women is the existence of a system that allows it.
“The society views women as items to be picked up and disposed of at will, as properties to be owned. Women and girls are recognised as different things, except humans. So, when you view a person as less human, you want to exercise power and dominance, and you’ll achieve that through every means possible, including killing,” she emphasised further.
