People assume Nigerian law is one thing. For domestic abuse it is not, and the difference is not academic — it decides what you can ask a court for, which court you go to, and how quickly anything happens.
This page explains why the answer varies and what to establish about your own state before you do anything else.
Why it varies
Criminal law in Nigeria is largely a matter for the states. A federal Act creating criminal offences generally applies directly in the Federal Capital Territory, and each state has to adopt its own version for it to operate there.
That is what happened with the VAPP Act of 2015. It was a substantial improvement on what came before, it covers physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, and it provides for protection orders. It applies in the FCT, and it applies in a state that has domesticated it.
Most states have now done so, but not all did it at the same time, and not all adopted identical wording. Some changed penalties. Some changed which court hears an application. So the correct question is not “what does the VAPP Act say” but “what did my state enact, and when”.
The other laws sitting underneath
Even where the VAPP Act has not been adopted, you are not without law. This is worth knowing, because women are frequently told there is nothing that can be done.
The criminal codes. The Criminal Code applies in the southern states and the Penal Code in the northern states. Assault, wounding, grievous harm, threats and unlawful detention are offences under both, and they have been for decades. A beating is a crime whether or not your state has a VAPP law.
State domestic violence laws. Some states legislated separately and earlier. Lagos has its own Protection Against Domestic Violence Law, which predates the VAPP Act and does much of the same work, and local lawyers there generally use it because the courts know it well.
The Child’s Rights Act. Federal, and adopted by most states, though not everywhere in the same form and some states have their own child protection legislation instead. Where it applies it matters a great deal for custody and for anything involving a child’s welfare.
The Constitution. Rights to life, dignity and freedom from inhuman treatment apply everywhere in the country regardless of what any state has or has not enacted.
What actually changes between states
- Whether a protection order is available, and which court makes it. This is the single biggest practical difference.
- How quickly an application can be heard, and whether an urgent order can be made before the other side is notified.
- Which court has jurisdiction — a magistrate, a High Court, a family court, or a specialised division.
- Whether there is a specialist agency or response team, as opposed to a general police station.
- Whether legal aid is realistically available, which varies enormously in practice even where it exists on paper.
- How the courts and the police in that state actually behave, which is not written down anywhere and is the thing local knowledge is for.
The three questions to ask
You do not need to research legislation. You need three answers, and any competent local lawyer or women’s organisation can give them in one conversation.
- Has my state adopted the VAPP Act, or does it have its own domestic violence law?
- Which court do I apply to for a protection order, and how long does it take?
- Which police command or unit handles this here, and is there a gender desk?
Write the answers down. They are the foundation of every other decision, and they are the reason we ask which state somebody is in as one of the first things.
The other question: which system your marriage is under
State law is only half of it. The other half is which body of family law governs your marriage, because that determines how it can be ended, what maintenance you can claim, and which court hears it.
Nigeria runs statutory, customary and Islamic family law in parallel, and they are genuinely different systems rather than variations of one. Which one you are in is the first thing a lawyer will establish, and a surprising number of people are unsure.
Protection from violence is not affected by this. Any of the three can be accompanied by a criminal complaint or a protection order.
If you have moved states
Generally you deal with the courts and the police where you now are, and where the conduct is happening. Where you married elsewhere, or a case has already been started elsewhere, that gets more complicated and is worth a lawyer rather than a guess.
Do not delay reporting something happening now because a previous matter is somewhere else. The two are usually separate.
If you have moved specifically to get away from him, be careful about which addresses appear on court documents, and raise that with a lawyer at the start rather than after the papers are filed. Keeping an address out of reach deals with this.
If you are told nothing can be done
This is common, and it is usually wrong.
If a police station tells you domestic matters are for the family, assault has been an offence in both criminal codes for a very long time and that answer is not the law. What to do when you meet it covers the practical response, including asking for the gender desk and asking for the Divisional Police Officer.
If somebody tells you your state has no law, ask which court hears assault cases, because that is the answer. And if you are told a protection order is not available where you are, that is worth checking with a lawyer rather than accepting, because it is one of the things people are most often wrong about.
Where to get the answer
A lawyer in your state, a FIDA branch, the Legal Aid Council office, or a women’s organisation working locally. What legal help costs and what is free sets out the routes, including the free ones.
It is also one of the things we do. Tell us which state you are in and we will tell you what applies, which court, and who is currently doing this work there. That is a question you can ask us without giving your name, without deciding anything and without being contacted again afterwards.
Questions people ask
My state has not adopted the VAPP Act. Does that mean nothing can be done?
No. Assault, wounding, grievous harm, threats and unlawful detention are offences under the Criminal Code in the south and the Penal Code in the north, and have been for decades. The VAPP Act adds to that; it is not the only thing there is.
How do I find out what applies where I live?
Three questions to any local lawyer or women’s organisation: has this state adopted the VAPP Act or does it have its own law, which court makes protection orders and how long does it take, and which police unit handles this here.
I married in one state and live in another. Which one applies?
Generally the courts and police where you now are and where the conduct is happening. Where a case has already started elsewhere it gets more complicated, and that is worth a lawyer rather than a guess.
Does my type of marriage change whether I am protected from violence?
No. Criminal law and protection orders apply regardless. What your marriage type changes is how it can be ended, what maintenance you can claim, and which court hears those questions.
Can you tell me what applies in my state?
Yes, and you can ask without giving your name or deciding anything. Tell us the state and we will tell you what the law is there and who is actually doing this work locally.
If you need help now
If you are in immediate danger, call 112. To talk to HealBridge, call or send a message to +2348025170267, or use the form on our contact page. Every page on this site has a Quick Exit button at the top right, and pressing the letter E three times does the same thing.
Before you rely on anything on this page
We publish these articles so that you can understand a subject and work out what to ask for. They are written carefully and in good faith. They are still general information about how things usually work, and not advice about your situation, which we do not know.
- This is not legal advice.
- We are not a law firm. Criminal law in Nigeria is largely a state matter, the VAPP Act applies in a state only if that state adopted it, and statutory, customary and Islamic marriages are governed by different law and different courts. Two people with the same facts can have genuinely different options. Get advice from a lawyer who practises where you live — and if cost is the obstacle, ask us, because arranging that is part of what we do.
- This is not medical advice.
- Nothing here is a diagnosis and nothing here replaces being examined. Do not delay seeing a doctor, nurse or pharmacist because of something you read here, and do not start, stop or change any treatment on the strength of it. If something is time critical, go and be seen.
- This is not counselling, and it is not financial advice.
- Articles about trauma, sleep, money, debt, renting or starting a business describe what commonly helps. They are not therapy and they are not a recommendation about your own money. Speak to a counsellor, a qualified adviser or your own bank about your circumstances.
- It may be out of date, or wrong for where you are.
- Law changes, services close, numbers stop answering and practice varies by state. We correct what we find, and we cannot promise that every page is current on the day you read it. Where we do not have something confirmed, we say so rather than fill the gap.
- Reading this does not make us your lawyer or your doctor.
- No professional relationship is created by reading an article, and we cannot accept liability for decisions taken on the strength of one. What we can do is help you reach somebody who is qualified to advise you, which is what the legal and health parts of our work exist for.
- We cannot promise an outcome, and we cannot make anybody safe.
- A protection order is a piece of paper backed by an enforcement system that is inconsistent. A plan works until the day it does not. Anybody in this field promising safety is selling something, and the promise itself is dangerous because it stops people planning.
Do not let this notice stop you acting. If you are in immediate danger, call 112. If something is medically urgent, go to a hospital — you do not need a police report to be treated. And if you do not know where to start, that is a normal way to begin: use the contact page and we will take it from there.
Also worth reading:
