Abuja — Corruption, conflicts, oppression are some of the evils afflicting the Nigerian population. Added to these is domestic violence, a phenomenon that is increasing so much that it has prompted the intervention of the country's religious leaders. Representatives of the African Faith & Justice Network (AFJN) and the Dominicans for Justice and Peace (DJP) have urged the entire community on the alarming escalation.

"We call on all faith communities to sensitize their members and charge them to address this evil through structured sessions and collective reflection".

A statement released by the two bodies refers to the alarming escalation of violence in the homes, including spousal murders, and the inhumane treatment of house helpers. "Numerous incidences of sexual abuse of children by adults including their fathers", the statement reads. The text also refers to homes that have become places where children who serve as house helps are abused and traumatized 'in unimaginable ways'. Poverty "should not be an excuse to force a child into domestic servitude, or marriage", declared Sister Eucharia Madueke, AFJN coordinator of the women's project, and Father Federico Ifeanyi Obananya, promoter for justice and peace in the Dominican province of Nigeria and Ghana

In the past, Nigeria had already declared a state of emergency for rape and sexual violence in all 36 Nigerian states. In 2020, women's group activists sent a memo to the Nigerian House of Representatives urging it to adopt and properly implement the Violence Against Prohibition Person's Act (VAPP) 2015.

The country is preparing for the presidential elections scheduled for February 2023. "Nigerians from all walks of life, ethnic, religious, political, cultural and economic affiliations want Nigeria to begin to change in order to become a country that truly lives up to the expectations and wishes of the people" underlined the Bishop of Minna Luka Sylvester Gopep (see Fides, 12/11/2022).