…Say Offence Carries Life Imprisonment
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The Lagos State Government has warned that marriage does not extinguish a woman’s right to withhold consent to sexual intercourse, stressing that a husband who forcefully penetrates his wife against her will may be prosecuted for sexual assault by penetration—an offence punishable by life imprisonment under Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Haroun Adebayo, gave the warning during aorganised by the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, to mark the commencement of the agency’s Awareness Month for September 2026.
The event was held in Alausa, Ikeja.
Responding to a question on whether Nigerian law permits a married woman to prosecute her husband for rape where he has sexual intercourse with her without consent, Adebayo explained that Lagos law does not categorise the conduct as rape within the subsistence of the marriage.
He, however, maintained that the absence of a rape charge does not shield a husband from criminal liability, as the conduct may constitute sexual assault by penetration, alongside other possible offences.
According to him, where a couple is experiencing difficulties and the wife refuses sexual intercourse, the husband has no legal right to compel her. If he forcefully penetrates her and she reports the incident, he could be investigated and prosecuted.
Adebayo also rejected the belief that payment of a woman’s dowry gives her husband unrestricted authority over her or immunity from prosecution for domestic and sexual violence.
“Any man who thinks that because he paid his wife’s dowry, nobody can challenge him over domestic violence should report such a man to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency,” he said.
“Under Lagos State Criminal Law, a man cannot be accused of raping his wife if they are together and are on good terms.
“However, once there is an issue between them and the wife refuses to have sex with him, the husband cannot force her.
“If the husband forces her and the wife reports him, we will not charge him for rape but for sexual assault by penetration, and the punishment is life imprisonment.”
The warning underscores the legal principle that consent must accompany sexual activity and cannot be presumed merely because the parties are married.
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Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACIarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
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