Anambra to Prosecute Those Denying Women Property Inheritance Rights

The Anambra State Government has commenced moves to protect the right of women to inherit property, with plans to prosecute persons who deny them inheritance on the basis of their gender.

The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, has directed the Nigeria Police Force to investigate complaints involving the denial of women and girls their inheritance rights and forward the case files to his office for prosecution.

The move seeks to address the longstanding practice in parts of the Southeast where women are denied access to family property because of their gender, despite judicial pronouncements declaring such discrimination unlawful.

A statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the Anambra State Governor, Ejimofor Opara, said Nweke conveyed the directive in a letter to the police.

According to the statement, the Attorney General said denying women and girls their right to inherit property because they are female constitutes an offence under Section 22 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2017 of Anambra State.

The offence, according to the law cited by the Attorney General, is punishable by up to four years’ imprisonment.

The letter to the Commissioner of Police directed the police to investigate reported cases of gender-based disinheritance and forward the case files to the Ministry of Justice for further action.

“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 letter read.

Nweke further said the Ministry 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,” he said.