ANAMBRA MOVES TO PROSECUTE THOSE DENYING WOMEN INHERITANCE RIGHTS
By:Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
The Anambra State Government has begun moves to prosecute people who deny women and girls the right to inherit property because of their gender.
The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, has directed the Nigeria Police Force to investigate reported cases of gender-based disinheritance and forward the case files to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution.
In a letter signed by Nweke, he said denying females inheritance rights solely on the basis of their gender constitutes an offence under Section 22 of the Anambra State Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, 2017.
The offence attracts a penalty of up to four years’ imprisonment.
Nweke said the Ministry’s Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Unit would handle the prosecution of offenders alongside other cases involving domestic and sexual violence.
He noted that despite Supreme Court decisions declaring discriminatory customs that prevent women from inheriting property unconstitutional and illegal, the practice persists in some communities.
The state government said the move is aimed at protecting the inheritance rights of women and girls and enforcing existing laws against discriminatory practices.