Anambra Orders Probe Into Denial of Women’s Inheritance Rights

The Anambra State Government has commenced steps to prosecute individuals who deny women and girls the right to inherit property on the basis of their gender.

The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, 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.

The directive was contained in a letter personally signed by Nweke and made available to journalists.

The Attorney-General said the practice of denying women and girls inheritance because they are female constitutes an offence under Section 22 of the Anambra State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2017, with offenders liable to up to four years’ imprisonment upon conviction.

The letter further directed the Ministry’s Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Unit to handle the prosecution of offenders, alongside other cases involving domestic violence and sexual offences.

The development comes against the backdrop of Supreme Court decisions rejecting discriminatory customary practices that exclude women from inheriting property.

In Anekwe v. Nweke, the apex court condemned such disinheritance as contrary to natural justice, equity and good conscience