By admin 
Civil society organizations and activists in Nigeria are calling for a state of emergency on gender-based violence (GBV) following a surge in femicide cases. According to the Femicide Observatory, operated by the Lagos-based nonprofit Document Our History (DOHS) Cares Foundation, at least 22 women have been killed in 2025 alone. The observatory recorded 17 cases in January—a staggering 240% increase from the same period last year—along with five additional cases by mid-February. More than 100 femicides were documented in 2024.
Among the recent victims is Emrich Effanga, a hairstylist from Uyo in southern Nigeria, who was allegedly strangled by her boyfriend, an usher in their church. Just weeks earlier, Mutiat Sholola died in Owode Egba, reportedly after her husband stabbed her in the head and attacked her with hot oil. Both suspects have been arrested.
“Just like in many parts of the world, home is proving to be the most dangerous place for Nigerian women and girls,” said Ololade Ajayi, founder of DOHS Cares. “Perpetrators act with impunity because there are hardly any appropriate consequences for these crimes.”
Lax Prosecution and Social Media Influence
Women’s rights advocates argue that weak legal frameworks and inadequate enforcement allow gender-based violence to persist. Additionally, they claim that misogynistic content online is fueling hostility toward women.
Chioma Agwuegbo, executive director of TechHerNG, an Abuja-based organization promoting digital inclusion and gender equality, believes the available data only scratches the surface of the problem.
“Unfortunately, the numbers reported by civil society organizations are just a fraction of the actual violence women and girls face,” she said. “Poor inter-agency documentation and a general lack of trust in the system mean many cases go unreported. Government agencies launched dashboards with a lot of fanfare, so where is the data? The femicide cases we see are only the ones that make it online—we are actually in a state of emergency.”
Calls for Legislative Action
In an effort to curb femicide, DOHS Cares submitted a draft bill to parliament last year, but Ajayi says it has been largely ignored.
In November 2020, the Nigerian government partnered with the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to launch a national dashboard for tracking gender-based violence cases. An inter-ministerial committee, including representatives from the State of Emergency GBV Movement—an 11-member coalition of women’s rights groups—was also formed to address the crisis.
Despite these efforts, progress has been slow. Local reports indicate that by 2023, the dashboard had recorded 27,698 cases. However, it remains unclear how many perpetrators have been prosecuted.
“That committee didn’t meet more than twice,” said Agwuegbo, who founded the movement after the rape and murder of 22-year-old student Vera Uwaila Omozuwa in a church in Benin City. “What’s most shocking is that her alleged attackers were caught and remanded, yet during the jailbreak in Edo state in October 2020, they escaped.”
With cases of gender-based violence continuing to rise, activists insist that immediate action is needed. They plan to hold a protest march during an upcoming court trial for another victim, demanding justice and urgent government intervention.
Gill Bikram Singh