Police directed to investigate complaints as state targets discriminatory inheritance practices
The Anambra State Government has taken steps to tackle the denial of inheritance rights to women and girls based solely on their gender.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, has directed the police to investigate complaints involving the alleged disinheritance of females and forward relevant case files to the Ministry of Justice for possible prosecution.
Nweke disclosed this in a letter addressed to the Nigeria Police Force, where he described the denial of women and girls their right to inherit property because they are female as an offence under Section 22 of the Anambra State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2017.
Under the directive, the Ministry’s Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Unit will be responsible for prosecuting offenders in such cases, alongside other matters involving domestic and sexual violence.
The Attorney-General called for thorough investigations into reported cases and urged the police to ensure that completed case files are transmitted to his office for further legal action.
The move comes against the backdrop of longstanding customary practices in parts of the country that have historically restricted women from inheriting family property.
The Supreme Court has previously struck down discriminatory customary rules that exclude women from inheritance. In Anekwe v. Nweke (2014), the apex court affirmed a woman’s right to inherit property despite a customary practice that sought to deny her inheritance because she had no male child.
With the latest directive, the Anambra Ministry of Justice is seeking to strengthen enforcement of existing legal protections and ensure that complaints of gender-based disinheritance are subjected to investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution.