Report: Zamfara, Niger, Ogun — five states with lowest criminal prosecution of SGBV cases

Stand to End Rape Initiative (STER), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has ranked Zamfara, Niger, and Ogun among the five states with the lowest execution of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases.

In a report titled “scorecard on sexual and gender-based violence: measuring state-level mechanism for prevention and responses in Nigeria”, STER said it conducted a survey between January and November 2022 across 36 states including the federal capital territory (FCT).

The report was published in partnership with TechHer, a coaching, mentoring, training, and research social enterprise established to close the knowledge gap between gender and technology.

The report analysed the efficiency of the criminal justice system, and the financial and management capacity for SGBV response, including laws and policy adoption across states.

Findings from the report showed that Ondo and Taraba are among the states with the lowest prosecution of gender-based violence violators in Nigeria.

Many states were reported to be lagging in the deliverance of speedy criminal prosecution, particularly, Gombe with only five SGBV cases attended to between 2020 and 2022.

Adamawa, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, and Lagos top the list of states with the highest rate of prosecuting SGBV perpetrators.

“Overall, many states recorded longer timelines for the criminal prosecution of SGBV cases. These drawn-out timelines are indicative of the limited effectiveness of the justice system for survivors/victims,” the report said.

“For instance, in Gombe state, 299 arrests for rape cases were recorded between 2020 and 2022. Of the 299 cases, 294 (i.e. 98%) are still pending in court. This data reveals a trend of delayed execution of justice for survivors, which often results in suspects/perpetrators walking free.

“Based on the findings of this study, the states that ranked top five (5) in this category are, Adamawa, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, and Lagos.

“The states that ranked the lowest in this category are, Taraba, Zamfara, Niger, Ondo, and Ogun.

“Several states (i.e., Enugu, FCT Abuja, Imo, Nasarawa, Osun, Sokoto, and Katsina) recorded over 40% missing data on indicators considered for this level of analysis. As a result, these states were excluded from the overall state rankings on the criminal justice system for SGBV response.”

On community engagement, the report revealed that the ministry of health and ministry of justice across 27 states do not conduct SGBV awareness and sensitisation campaigns.

It ranked Ekiti, Ogun, Bauchi, Kebbi, and Nasarawa as the top five states that conduct awareness and sensitization campaigns on SGBV.

While Sokoto, Rivers, Oyo, Kano, and Kaduna were ranked lowest on community engagement.

The report said Ekiti was the only state that performed efficiently in the area of SGBV prevention and response efforts.

“From all 36 states and the FCT, Ekiti was the only state that met expectations and earned the rank of the best-performing state in SGBV prevention and response. Other states lagged well below an exceptional level of assessment,” it added.

“This outcome exposes the significant gap in resource allocation and investment in infrastructure across the nation.”

The report further raised concerns over poor investment and budgetary allocations for SGBV prevention and response.

It said lack of adequate managers and health professionals is found to be a challenge, adding that medical essentials were poorly provided in most of the referral centres and the state police clinics assessed.