Femicide: NHRC, AU Rights Envoy Mount Pressure on Nigeria to Ratify Convention
…As envoy demands 15-country push to bring treaty into force, seeks reserved parliamentary seats for women ahead of 2027 elections
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have stepped up pressure on Nigeria to ratify the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, amid growing concerns over femicide, sexual violence and the increasing use of digital platforms to intimidate women.
The push, which comes ahead of the 2027 general elections, also includes demands for affirmative action and reserved seats for women in parliament to address persistent barriers to their political representation.
The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, gave the commitment during an advocacy meeting with the African Commission’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, Hon. Janet Ramatoulie Sallah-Njie, at the commission’s headquarters.
The proposed ratification would commit Nigeria to a stronger regional framework for preventing and addressing violence against women and girls, including femicide, while strengthening accountability and protection mechanisms.
Ojukwu said the NHRC would mobilise civil society organisations and other stakeholders to intensify advocacy for Nigeria’s adoption and ratification of the instrument, assuring that the commission would pursue concrete actions rather than allow the engagement to end with expressions of commitment.
He said observations by the African Commission on Nigeria’s human rights reports had highlighted troubling developments, particularly femicide and technology-facilitated violence against women, requiring stronger legislative, institutional and enforcement responses.
The NHRC boss said the commission would also work with relevant institutions to improve access to justice for victims of gender-based violence and ensure that recommendations from the African Commission were implemented.
The urgency of the campaign was underscored by Sallah-Njie, who challenged Nigeria to use its continental influence to help secure the entry into force of the convention by becoming one of the 15 countries required to facilitate its implementation.
She disclosed that the African Union adopted the convention in February 2025, describing it as a significant addition to existing continental human rights protections because of its response to emerging forms of violence against women and girls.
According to her, Nigeria’s ratification would demonstrate its commitment to protecting women and girls while strengthening the continent’s collective response to gender-based violence.
She expressed concern over femicide in Nigeria, alongside developments in Cameroon and South Africa, and called on the NHRC to champion the ratification campaign, prepare relevant national reports and monitor the implementation of laws protecting women and girls.
Sallah-Njie particularly highlighted the importance of the convention’s explicit recognition and prohibition of femicide, arguing that stronger legal recognition was necessary to confront the killing of women because of their gender.
But beyond the ratification campaign, the visiting envoy raised another major concern: the exclusion of women from political decision-making and the violence increasingly accompanying their participation in electoral activities.
With the 2027 elections approaching, she called for temporary special measures, including affirmative action and reserved seats for women in parliament, arguing that granting women the right to contest elections was insufficient without measures to overcome structural and socio-cultural disadvantages.
She said women continued to face barriers that prevented them from competing on equal terms with men, insisting that deliberate interventions were necessary to translate formal political rights into meaningful representation.
The Special Rapporteur urged Nigerian women to scrutinise the voting records of their representatives on legislation affecting women’s rights and hold them accountable, while encouraging more women to contest elective positions.
She also warned that attacks, intimidation and victimisation of women pursuing political ambitions could discourage others from seeking public office.
Of particular concern, she identified election-related sexual violence, harassment and technology-facilitated abuse as threats capable of pushing women out of the political space.
She urged the NHRC and other relevant authorities to monitor such violations and establish preventive mechanisms to ensure that women could campaign, vote and contest elections without fear of violence or discrimination.
Sallah-Njie further called for women’s inclusion in peacebuilding and conflict-resolution processes, maintaining that decisions on security and the future of communities must not exclude half of the population.
Responding to the concerns, Ojukwu disclosed that the NHRC had established thematic departments, including a dedicated Department of Women and Children, to strengthen its response to violations affecting vulnerable groups.
He said the restructuring was intended to provide specialised attention to human rights concerns rather than rely solely on a general institutional approach.
He also highlighted the commission’s collaboration with the African Commission, noting that regional resolutions and recommendations were important in strengthening Nigeria’s human rights protection framework.
The NHRC, he added, had linked its website with that of the African Commission to make relevant human rights instruments, resolutions and recommendations more accessible to Nigerians seeking information and remedies.
The Executive Director of Baobab for Women’s Human Rights, Yèyé Bunmi Dipo-Salami, supported the call for affirmative action, recalling previous advocacy for special seats for women in the National Assembly.
She said the proposal had faced resistance from some lawmakers who argued that reserving seats for women would discriminate against men.
Dipo-Salami, however, maintained that affirmative action was an internationally recognised mechanism for addressing historical inequalities and ensuring meaningful representation of disadvantaged groups.
She commended the NHRC for creating specialised departments and providing leadership opportunities for women, while pledging civil society support for efforts to advance gender equality.
The delegation also included representatives of the Women’s Advocacy Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), among other stakeholders.
Sallah-Njie said she would report the outcome of the engagement in her next intersessional report to the African human rights community, expressing hope that Nigeria would demonstrate measurable progress in ratifying and implementing the convention.
She said tangible action by Nigeria would strengthen the continent’s efforts to end violence against women and girls.
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