PRESS RELEASE
Abia State, Nigeria | 26 December 2025
G4GJ CONDEMNS MOVE TO EVICT TWO FEMALE ORPHANS IN ABIA COMMUNITY — CALLS FOR URGENT LAWFUL INTERVENTION AND PROTECTION OF GIRLS’ RIGHTS
The Group for Gender Justice (G4GJ) is alarmed and outraged by the recent attempted eviction of two female orphans from their late father’s home in Eluoma, Uzuakoli, Abia State, an action reportedly halted only after the timely intervention of a concerned lawmaker and community stakeholders. This incident, steeped in discrimination and a brazen disregard for the rule of law, underscores persistent structural injustices that continue to endanger the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of vulnerable persons, particularly women and girls.
G4GJ commends the courageous and timely intervention of the lawmaker whose action helped avert an imminent violation of the girls’ rights. Such intervention reflects the constitutional duty of public office holders to protect vulnerable citizens and uphold the supremacy of the law over harmful customs and private interests. However, while this intervention prevented immediate harm, it does not extinguish the need for accountability for those who orchestrated or participated in the unlawful eviction attempt.
G4GJ unequivocally condemns this discriminatory conduct perpetrated by individuals who apparently felt emboldened to deprive two orphans of their ancestral home and inheritance rights. We therefore demand that traditional rulers, government authorities, security agencies, and justice institutions intervene decisively to protect the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable.
This inhumane conduct is unlawful, unconstitutional, and a gross violation of extant laws on rights protection. The targeted eviction of vulnerable girls from their family home constitutes gender-based discrimination and socio-economic abuse under both federal and state laws.
RELEVANT LEGAL FOUNDATIONS
1. Abia State Female Persons’ Right of Inheritance of Property Law, 2022
This progressive law, enacted by the Abia State House of Assembly and assented to by the Governor, clearly affirms that a female person shall have the right to inherit property from her father, mother, or husband, irrespective of male siblings or marital status. The law expressly prohibits discrimination against female heirs in matters of succession, ownership, or occupation and criminalises threats, harassment, or force used to deprive a female person of her inheritance rights.
2. Abia State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law (VAPP Law) 2019.
Under the Abia State domestication of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law 2019, acts such as forceful eviction, intimidation, coercion, harmful traditional practices, and socio-economic abuse, particularly when directed at women and girls, constitute criminal offences. The law mandates the protection of victims and the prosecution of offenders in line with fundamental human rights principles.
3. Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)
Section 42 of the Constitution guarantees freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex or circumstances of birth. Nigerian courts, including the Supreme Court, have consistently held that customary practices that deny female children inheritance rights are unconstitutional, null, and void.
G4GJ CALLS ON AUTHORITIES TO:
1. Immediately Protect and Secure the Rights of the Orphans
Ensure that the two orphans are formally recognised as lawful occupants and beneficiaries of their late father’s estate under the Abia inheritance law and the Constitution, and protected from any further threats, intimidation, or dispossession.
2. Conduct a Prompt and Transparent Investigation
The Nigeria Police Force, the Abia State Ministry of Justice, and relevant human rights institutions must investigate all persons involved in the eviction plot and effect arrests where there is credible evidence of criminal conduct.
3. Prosecute Offenders under Applicable Laws
Those responsible may be liable for offences including discrimination, harmful traditional practices, socio-economic violence, and denial of inheritance rights. G4GJ demands that the full weight of the law be applied to serve as deterrence against similar abuses.
4. Mobilise Traditional Institutions as Partners in Justice
We call on the traditional ruler of the affected community to publicly repudiate discriminatory practices, align customary governance with statutory law, and work with government agencies and civil society to protect the rights of women, girls, and other vulnerable persons.
CONCLUSION
This shameful plot, striking at the core of gender, age, and socio-economic justice in Abia State, reflects a wider pattern of discrimination that must be dismantled through law enforcement, accountability, and sustained public vigilance. A society that cannot protect its orphans, regardless of gender, from unlawful dispossession has failed its most vulnerable members.
G4GJ stands firmly with the two orphans and with every vulnerable person, especially women and girls in Abia State in demanding equality, dignity, and access to justice. We urge the Abia State Government and its agencies to act decisively and reaffirm that no harmful cultural practice, private agenda, or customary claim supersedes the Constitution and the laws of Abia State.
Signed:
Amaka Biachi, Esq.
For: G4GJ.
