By Kelechi Achukwu-Jide
The Anambra State Government has commenced moves to prosecute persons who deny women and girls the right to inherit property on the basis of their sex.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, disclosed this in a letter to the Nigeria Police Force, requesting the investigation of reported cases of gender based disinheritance.
The letter, personally signed by Nweke, was made available to newsmen on Sept. 26.
It stated that denying women and girls the right to inherit property because they are female constituted an offence under Section 22 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2017 of Anambra State.
According to the letter, anyone convicted under the provision could face up to four years’ imprisonment.
Nweke requested the police to investigate reported cases of gender based disinheritance and forward the case files to the Ministry of Justice for further action.
He said the ministry had designated its Sexual and Gender Based Violence Unit to prosecute offenders under the law.
The unit, according to the letter, would handle such cases alongside other cases involving domestic violence and sexual offences.
The development follows Supreme Court decisions that declared discriminatory customs and practices preventing females from inheriting property unconstitutional and illegal.
Despite the judicial pronouncements, the letter noted that some members of the public continued to engage in practices that denied females their inheritance rights on the basis of their sex.
The directive requires reported cases to be investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the state law.
Kelechi Achukwu-Jide is of the Ministry of Information and Value Reformation, Anambra State
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