The Anambra State Government has moved to prosecute individuals who deny women and girls their inheritance rights on the basis of their sex, warning that such conduct constitutes a criminal offence under state law.
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.
Nweke conveyed the directive in a letter personally signed by him and addressed to the police, a copy of which was made available to journalists on Monday.
According to the Attorney-General, denying women and girls the right to inherit property solely because they are female amounts to a criminal act under Section 22 of the Anambra State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2017, with offenders liable to up to four years’ imprisonment.
He directed the police to conduct thorough investigations into complaints of gender-based disinheritance and transmit the resulting case files to the Ministry of Justice for appropriate legal action.
“In 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,” Nweke stated.
The Attorney-General further disclosed that the ministry had designated its Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Unit to prosecute offenders under the law, alongside cases involving other forms of domestic violence and sexual offences.
The directive comes amid longstanding legal and social disputes over customary practices that have historically excluded women, female children and widows from inheriting family property in parts of southeastern Nigeria.
The Supreme Court, in landmark decisions including Ukeje v. Ukeje and Anekwe v. Nweke, rejected discriminatory customary rules that prevented female children and widows from inheriting property solely on account of their sex.
The rulings have been widely regarded as establishing that customary practices discriminating against women in inheritance cannot override constitutional guarantees of equality and fundamental rights.
Despite the judicial pronouncements, gender-based disinheritance remains a subject of legal advocacy and rights campaigns, particularly in communities where traditional inheritance systems favour male heirs.
Anambra’s statutory framework also provides additional protections against practices that expose women to economic vulnerability, including legislation addressing violence against persons and harmful practices affecting widows.
The latest directive signals a move by the state authorities to strengthen enforcement by treating qualifying cases of gender-based disinheritance not merely as family or customary disputes, but as potential criminal offences requiring police investigation and prosecution.
Nweke’s directive effectively establishes a channel through which victims can report cases to law enforcement, with the SGBV Unit of the Ministry of Justice responsible for taking appropriate prosecorial action.
The initiative is expected to bring greater scrutiny to the enforcement of statutory protections and existing judicial precedents on women’s inheritance rights, particularly where women or girls are excluded from family property solely because of their gender.
Anambra’s Attorney-General, Nweke, is the state’s chief law officer and Commissioner for Justice.
