The Anambra State Government has commenced moves to strengthen the enforcement of women’s and girls’ rights to inherit property, with the state Attorney-General directing that complaints of gender-based disinheritance be investigated for possible prosecution.
The initiative follows persistent cases in which women and girls are allegedly prevented from inheriting family property on the basis of customary and traditional practices.
The Supreme Court has previously held that customary practices excluding women from inheritance on the basis of gender are unconstitutional. In Ukeje v Ukeje, the court held that an Igbo customary law denying female children inheritance rights violated the constitutional prohibition against discrimination.
Despite such judicial decisions, discriminatory inheritance practices have continued to generate complaints in parts of the South-East.
Anambra State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, has now requested the Nigeria Police Force to investigate complaints involving the denial of inheritance rights to females and transmit relevant case files to his office for further action.
In a statement, Special Assistant on Media to Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Ejimofor Opara, quoted a letter signed by the Attorney-General as saying that denying women and girls inheritance because of their gender constitutes an offence under Section 22 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2017 of Anambra State.
According to the statement, the offence is punishable by up to four years’ imprisonment.
“In the light of the foregoing, you are kindly requested to ensure that your office thoroughly investigates all reported cases of gender-based disinheritance and that the case files are transmitted to this Ministry for further action,” the Attorney-General said in the letter to the police.
Nweke said the Ministry of Justice had designated its Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Unit to prosecute offenders under the law.
“To effectively combat this practice, this Ministry has designated the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Unit to handle the prosecution of offenders under the above-mentioned law, alongside other forms of domestic violence and sexual offences,” the letter read.
The move signals an effort by the state government to shift from judicial declarations against discriminatory inheritance practices to enforcement against individuals accused of denying women and girls their legally protected inheritance rights.
David-Chyddy Eleke
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