Tinubu urged to declare Femicide National Emergency
By Samuel Ogunsona
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare femicide a national emergency.
The coalition cites the escalating violence against women in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by Executive Director, Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE), Executive Director, VisionSpring Initiative, Betty Abah Ngozi-Juba Nwosu, Asst. Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation, Zikora Ibeh, the coalition condemned what it called the widespread violence against women and the escalating femicide crisis in Nigeria.
“Femicide, which manifests as the deliberate killing of women and girls simply because of their gender, has recorded an alarming growth in recent times. Since the start of 2025, nearly 30 women have suffered gruesome murders, but these are only the cases that made it to the public eye,” said Ngozi-Juba Nwosu, Executive Director, VisionSpring Initiatives.
The CSOs also weighed in on the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, describing it as “mischievously hasty, absurd, and most depressingly, a well-executed orchestrated mockery of International Women’s Day in Nigeria.”
The statement emphasized that tackling the crisis of gender-based violence, ritual killings, and femicide requires a multi-layered approach that goes beyond film regulations.
“Existing laws, such as the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015, must be rigorously enforced, ensuring that perpetrators of femicide and other forms of violence face real consequences.”
The CSOs called on the Nigerian government to acknowledge the gravity of the crisis and demonstrate genuine commitment to upholding Section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which guarantees the right to life for all individuals.
“We demand a public hearing and the establishment of an independent panel—comprising impartial citizens, legal experts, and civil society groups—to conduct a transparent investigation into the grave allegations at the heart of this dispute,” the statement concluded.
