Lagos Warns Husbands — Marital Rape Now Punishable By Life Imprisonment As “Sexual Assault”

Lagos Warns Husbands — Marital Rape Now Punishable By Life Imprisonment As “Sexual Assault”

The Lagos State Government is sending a strong warning to husbands: being married does not give you the right to force sex.

The caution was issued on Monday at the Alausa Press Centre during the launch of September 2026’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month.

Director of Public Prosecutions, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Adebayo Haroun, said the law still recognizes a woman’s right to say no, even to her husband.

Haroun explained that while Nigerian law does not label forced sex between couples “living together in good terms” as rape, Lagos State law covers it under a different charge.

“If a wife refuses sex due to conflict and the husband forces her, that is ‘sexual assault by penetration’ under Lagos State Criminal Law,” he said. “The punishment is life imprisonment.”

He added that victims can report such cases to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency for investigation and prosecution. Additional charges may also apply depending on what happened.

“Any man who believes that paying dowry means nobody can hold him accountable for domestic violence is wrong,” Haroun stated.

The government stressed that the focus of this year’s DSVA Month is consent. According to officials, all sexual activity must be mutual, and coercion within marriage will attract serious legal action in Lagos.