Lagos records 200 female homicides in five years
A disturbing trend of gender-based violence has emerged in Lagos, with a total of 200 women killed in the state over the past five years. According to data compiled from the Lagos State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), of the Lagos State Police Command, an average of 70 women murder because they are women between January […]
A disturbing trend of gender-based violence has emerged in Lagos, with a total of 200 women killed in the state over the past five years.
According to data compiled from the Lagos State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), of the Lagos State Police Command, an average of 70 women murder because they are women between January 1, 2020 to September 2025.
The victims, aged between 18 and 40 were killed by either their husbands, boyfriends, or other family members in most cases.
A new study, titled Measuring femicides in Lagos State: Data, Advocacy and Action, by the Nigeria Police Force, and funded by Bloomberg Philanthropist, showed that domestic violence, sexual abuse, and economic empowerment struggles were identified as major factors contributing to the rising cases of femicide homicides in the state.
Police Pathologist, Dr. Samuel Keshinro, while presenting the study, yesterday in Lagos, called for stronger and more reliable data systems to tackle rising cases of femicide.
Dr. Keshinro stated that without accurate records, efforts to end gender-based violence will remain ineffective.
The study titled “Measuring Femicide in Lagos State: Data, Advocacy and Action” and covering 2020 to 2024, showed that a total of 1,666 unnatural deaths which involved both male and female were reported to SCID and that out of which 1316 of them were male (79%) while 350 females (21%).
Dr. Keshinro revealed that among the unnatural deaths, the manner of death remained undetermined in about 103 (29%) cases, indicating a notable proportion of unresolved cases.
“Additionally, 11 cases (3%) were classified as suicides, six cases (2%) as misadventure and 230 cases (66%) as homicide.
“The female homicide analysis revealed that 200 cases (87% of homicides) were intentional homicide, with 70 (35% of intentional homicides) classified as Femicides, many of which ars committed by intimate partners (47%) of all Femicides).
“Other variables analyzed for Femicides showed that about one-third of the victims ages were either unknown or not specified. However, among cases where the victim’s age was known, those ages 15-44 years represented the majority (44%). Perpetrators were identified in 66 cases (94%) of the 70 Femicide cases, with a nake majority of 59 (84%)” he said.
The Police Pathologist explained that the overall femicide rates in Lagos appeared to be relatively low, with only 70 cases recorded over the five years period.
“Most victims were between the ages of 15 and 44 — the most productive stage of a woman’s life,” Keshiro said.
He linked a spike in 2021 cases to the COVID-19 lockdown, when many women were confined with abusive partners.
In his keynote address, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Olohundare Jimoh, described femicide as a growing concern in Nigeria, urging urgent collective action from security agencies, civil society, and policymakers. He said the police, as the first point of contact in criminal justice, play a critical role in protecting women and girls but continue to face challenges in forensic investigations, autopsies, prosecution, and record keeping.
“These gaps have hindered efforts to fully eradicate violence against women, despite Lagos recording comparatively lower femicide rates in this study,” Jimoh said. He commended the command’s pathologist and his team, alongside international partners such as Vital Strategies and the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative, for supporting the research.
Jimoh announced that the command had set up a specialized unit within its Gender Department to handle femicide and domestic violence cases, initially donor-funded but now supported by the Lagos State Government.
He emphasized that officers have been trained to identify early warning signs of domestic violence and respond to victims with empathy, confidentiality, and professionalism.
“Gone are the days when victims were subjected to humiliating questions. Our officers have been trained to respond with empathy, confidentiality, and efficiency,” he assured.
The Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice
Kazeem Alogba Chief Judge of Lagos, urged policemen, lawyers and Judges not to see every case file that comes before them, as just a set of condemnations, but about somebody’s life and livelihood.
“Taking this kind of data will also help us to appreciate the reasons for the involvement of women in all these heinous crimes, that is the killing of women in all these heinous crimes
“All this again will help the jurisprudence and the reaction of the bench to how to deal with such cases. You know that this is a common area, where women are desolated, and you want to send out stronger sanctions. You know that these are just incidental areas” he added.