Child Sexual Abuse in Nigeria: What the Law Says
The arrest of a woman in Anambra State after a video allegedly showing her sexually abusing a minor circulated online has again drawn attention to the legal protections available to children in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Police Force said the suspect, identified in reports as 36-year-old Anulika Onyeanusia, was arrested in Onitsha on Friday. Four children, aged between two and nine, were also reportedly rescued from her custody, while police began investigating allegations including child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material.
The case raises an important question beyond the arrest itself: what does Nigerian law say about child sexual abuse, and can a child legally consent to sexual activity with an adult?
The answer under the Child Rights Act is significant.
Who is a child under Nigerian law?
The Child Rights Act 2003 defines a child as a person below the age of 18.
This means that, under the Act, people under 18 are entitled to special legal protection because of their age and vulnerability.
The law specifically addresses sexual intercourse involving children.
Section 31 of the Child Rights Act makes unlawful sexual intercourse with a child an offence. Legal analysis of the provision notes that the law treats the child’s consent as irrelevant where the offence falls under the section.
This is an important distinction from situations involving consenting adults.
Can a child consent to sex with an adult?
Under Section 31 of the Child Rights Act, consent is not a defence to unlawful sexual intercourse with a child.
The provision also states that ignorance of the child’s age is not a defence.
In practical terms, an adult cannot simply argue that a child agreed to the sexual activity or that the adult did not know the child was below the legally protected age.
A legal analysis by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre notes that Section 31(3) expressly provides that neither lack of knowledge of the child’s age nor the child’s consent is a defence.
This is intended to recognise the vulnerability of children and prevent responsibility for sexual abuse from being shifted onto the child.
What punishment does the law provide?
Section 31 of the Child Rights Act provides severe punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a child, including life imprisonment upon conviction.
However, the application of the Child Rights Act has an important geographical consideration: although it is a federal law, states have historically had to domesticate the Act for many of its provisions to operate directly within their jurisdictions.
Nigeria therefore has a complex legal framework for child sexual offences, with the applicable law depending partly on the state where an alleged offence occurred.
Other laws can also apply.
For example, the Criminal Code contains provisions dealing with unlawful carnal knowledge of girls below specified ages, while the Penal Code applies in much of northern Nigeria. The precise offence and punishment therefore depend on the facts of a case, the victim’s age and the law applicable in the relevant jurisdiction.
What about recording the abuse?
The alleged recording adds another serious dimension to the case.
Child sexual abuse material is not simply ordinary explicit content involving a minor. It can constitute evidence of a serious underlying offence and can itself raise additional criminal issues.
A 2024 country assessment on Nigeria’s child-protection framework noted that recordings or images depicting child sexual abuse should be understood as child sexual abuse material rather than simply being treated as pornography.
This is why members of the public should be careful when such material circulates online.
Forwarding, reposting or storing abusive material does not help protect the child. It can instead further expose the victim and potentially create additional legal problems depending on the circumstances.
The safer response is to report suspected abuse to the police or an appropriate child-protection authority rather than helping the material spread.
What happens after an arrest?
An arrest does not mean that a suspect has been found guilty.
Police investigators are expected to gather evidence, interview relevant people, preserve material that may be used as evidence and establish what happened.
If investigators believe there is sufficient evidence, the suspect can be taken through the appropriate criminal justice process.
The courts, rather than the police or social media users, ultimately determine criminal guilt.
This distinction is particularly important in cases involving viral videos because online outrage can quickly turn an allegation into an assumption of guilt.
At the same time, protecting the child should remain a priority throughout the investigation and any subsequent court proceedings.
Why the law places special protection on children
Children are considered particularly vulnerable to manipulation, coercion and exploitation.
Nigeria’s child-protection framework therefore seeks to prevent adults from using a child’s apparent willingness as justification for sexual conduct.
The broader legal framework also recognises that sexual exploitation can take different forms. The Trafficking in Persons Act, for example, prohibits the sexual exploitation of children below 18 and provides criminal penalties for certain forms of exploitation.
The Anambra case therefore goes beyond the question of what happened in one reported incident.
It highlights why Nigerian law treats sexual activity involving children differently from consensual sexual relationships between adults.
Where an adult is accused of sexually exploiting a child, the child’s supposed consent does not simply remove the legal protection afforded to that child.
For parents and members of the public, the central lesson is straightforward: suspected child sexual abuse should be reported, investigated and handled through the justice system, while the identity, dignity and privacy of the child should be protected throughout the process.