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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Crime & Justice

One woman killed every 49 hours by intimate partner – Rights activist

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • A Nigerian women's rights activist reports that one woman is killed every 49 hours by an intimate partner, highlighting a disturbing rise in femicide.
  • The Femicide Observatory tracked 54 gender-related killings of women and girls in Nigeria in the first four months of 2026.
  • The home is identified as the most dangerous place for women, with perpetrators often being husbands or boyfriends, and common motives including rejection of sexual advances.

A disturbing trend of femicide, the intentional killing of women and girls due to their gender, is on the rise in Nigeria, with a women's rights activist reporting that one woman is killed by an intimate partner every 49 hours. Mrs. Ololade Ajayi, founder and Executive Director of DOHS Care Foundation, shared these alarming statistics.

We have a Femicide Observatory, which is an app that crawls the internet searching for gender-related killings of women and girls in Nigeria.

— Mrs Ololade AjayiExplaining the methodology used to track femicide cases.

Ajayi's organization operates a Femicide Observatory, an app that monitors online sources for gender-related killings of women and girls across Nigeria. The observatory received alerts from social media, mainstream news, and communities, particularly in rural areas. In the first four months of 2026 (January to April), the tracker recorded over 42 cases. By May, this number increased to 54 cases for the year. In comparison, 197 gender-related femicide cases were tracked in 2023, and 133 cases involving 150 victims in 2024.

So we receive alerts through that. We also get alerts from social media, the mainstream media, and communities, especially rural communities where these cases occur.

— Mrs Ololade AjayiDetailing the sources of information for the Femicide Observatory.

Justice for victims remains elusive in most cases. Ajayi noted that only two cases in 2024 received swift justice: Hauwa Alli, killed by a Nigerian Army sergeant sentenced to death, and Salome Adaidu, whose killer was also sentenced to death. For most other victims' families, the pursuit of justice is a long, traumatic process. Ajayi expressed hope for a faster judicial system.

Our data show that the home is the most dangerous place for a Nigerian woman.

— Mrs Ololade AjayiHighlighting a key pattern in femicide cases.

Patterns observed in the data indicate that the home is the most dangerous environment for Nigerian women. Husbands, boyfriends, and other intimate partners are frequently the perpetrators. A recurring motive is the rejection of sexual advances, as seen in the recent case of a female student at the School of Nursing in Imo State. Substance abuse is also identified as a contributing factor in some femicide cases, impacting not only users but also their female relatives and acquaintances. Ajayi emphasized the critical need to address the safety of women and girls, stating, "It is deeply disturbing that the place where women and girls should feel safest has become one of the most dangerous places for them in Nigeria."

Another recurring pattern is that women are killed for rejecting sexual advances.

— Mrs Ololade AjayiIdentifying a common motive for femicide.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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