Bukola Afeni
Survivors of rape and incest have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria for allegedly violating their constitutional and international obligations by failing to ensure access to comprehensive medical and reproductive health services for victims of sexual violence.
The survivors say their case is not just a legal battle, but a fight for dignity, justice, and the right of every woman and girl in Nigeria to heal and be protected by the system.
The case, filed at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos (Suit No: FHC/LAG/2025), is led by a team of senior human rights lawyers, including Prof. Yemi Oke (SAN), Dr. Olayinka Owoeye, and Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, a prominent women’s rights advocate.
According to a statement signed by Ene Oshaba, Media and Advocacy Officer of the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), the survivors are seeking judicial recognition of their right to medical care including safe and legal termination of pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
The matter has been assigned to Hon. Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa and is scheduled for mention on Thursday, November 6, 2025.
The plaintiffs are asking the Court to declare that victims of rape and incest have a guaranteed and enforceable right to safe termination of pregnancy resulting from sexual violence.
“Government has a legal duty to provide comprehensive medical care, including emergency medical treatment, psychological support, and reproductive health services.
Comprehensive medical assistance under the VAPP Act legally includes information and access to medical abortion services for survivors.”
They argue that the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP Act) 2015, particularly Sections 1 and 38, guarantees access to full medical assistance, which legally includes information and access to safe abortion services for survivors of sexual violence.
In the suit, one of the survivors a young woman sexually abused by her father recounted suffering complications from an unsafe abortion due to lack of state support.
Another survivor, a university student raped while incapacitated, said she received no medical or psychological care from the government.
The survivors said their legal action aims to secure justice and prevent other victims from enduring the same neglect.
“I did not choose violence. I did not choose the trauma that changed my life. But I choose to fight so no other girl or woman is abandoned by the system meant to protect us,” one survivor said.
Another added: “What happened to me was already painful. Being denied medical help made it worse. Survivors deserve care, respect, and choices not silence and suffering.”
The plaintiffs are relying on several legal and human rights frameworks, including:Sections 33, 34, and 35 of the 1999 Constitution (Right to life, dignity, and liberty), African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Maputo Protocol, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015
These laws collectively affirm the government’s obligation to provide comprehensive medical and reproductive health services to victims of sexual violence.
“I survived the rape. I survived the shame. But I should not have to survive government neglect too,” another survivor stated. “No one should be forced to carry trauma in their body when the law says we deserve care.”
