Yetunde Hafsoh Lawal, a 23-year-old final-year student at Kwara State College of Education, went missing on February 10. Days later, the police found her dismembered body in a bowl in the house of Abdurahman Bello, an Islamic cleric in Ilorin.
Reports stated that Bello, who claimed Lawal died from an asthma attack, was her boyfriend.
Bello could not give a reasonable explanation for gruesome act of dismembering Lawal’s body. Lawal is one in about two dozens reported victims of femicide in Nigeria in 2025.
According to the DOHS Cares Foundation, an organisation working against sexual and gender-based violence, Lawal’s death is the 22nd case of femicide it had recorded in 2025 alone.
TW: Femicide⚠️An unnnamed 16 year old girl, raped and murdered on a farm in Emure Ekiti by suspected Herders is the 21st Reported Victim of Femicide in Nigeria in 2025, while Lawal Hafsoh, who was Murdered by an Islamic Cleric, Abdurahman Bello in Ilorin Kwara State is the 22nd🧵 https://t.co/kg9Xw81xOL pic.twitter.com/gQ8K9gSYEA— DOHS Cares Foundation (@DOHScares) February 16, 2025
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Femicide: The Plague
Femicide is the intentional killing of women and girls usually by men who are their intimate partners, relatives or close acquaintances because of their gender.
It is a gender-based crime that often stems from gender inequality, discrimination and power imbalances between men and women. The Routledge International Handbook on Femicide and Feminicide describes the term as “the tip of the iceberg in male violence against women and girls”.
DOHS Cares Foundation shared the United Nations Statistical Framework for classifying femicide. The framework contains ten variables used to identify Sex/Gender Related Motives and Indicators (SGRMIS).
These variables include: women and girls killed by intimate partners; women and girls killed by family members; previous record of harassment/violence; illegal deprivation of her liberty; use of force and/or mutilation; body disposed of in a public space; sexual violence committed before or after killing; victim was working in the sex industry; hate crime motivated by bias against women/girls and victims of illegal exploitation (or trafficking).
Although femicide primarily focuses on male-perpetrated killings, this Yale Journal of International Law article states that the term can encompass killings committed or facilitated by women who are motivated by misogyny. It encompasses intimate-partner femicide in lesbian couples, honour killings and deaths resulting from harmful practices such as female genital mutilation.
“It often occurs within the context of intimate partner violence, where women are killed by their former or current partners, but it can also include killings related to honour-based violence and targeted attacks against women in armed conflict. The term ‘femicide’ precisely indicates the gendered nature of these killings, distinguishing them from general homicide,” the article reads in part.
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The 21st reported femicide case in Nigeria in 2025 involved a 16-year-old girl who was raped and murdered on a farm by suspected herdsmen in Emure Ekiti, Ekiti State, in February.
Emrich Effanga, the 20th victim was a makeup artist and hair stylist strangled to death by Ndifreke Isaiah, her boyfriend on February 6 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Also, on February 6 the 19th reported victim (name undisclosed) of femicide met her tragic end in the hands of a vigilante in Ugheli South, Delta State. Her killer dumped her body outside a former senator’s house.
Femicide Cases in 2025 Recorded by DOHS Cares FoundationS/NName of VictimAgeName of Killer and how the victim was killedDateWhere12Sholola MutiatShe died from injuries inflicted on her by her husband, Kazeem Sholola, who poured hot oil on her body and stabbed her in the head. JanuaryOgun State3Salome AdaiduKilled by Timilehin Ajayi who butchered herJanuary 14Nassarawa State4Mrs Atagoshi 50Beheaded over a land dispute with her relative January 17Imo State 5Tolulope Olusanya45Found dead in her house with her body decomposingOgun State6Unnamed girl10One Precious macheted the girl to deatJanuary 9Delta State7Ifeoluwa Adekale Shot by a police officerJanuary 2Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State8EzeShe was raped and murdered in her homeJanuary 9Delta State9Blessing NwanaN/ASet on fire by her husband, Sunday Nwana, after an argumentJanuary 22Abagana, Njikoka LG, Anambra State10Ifeoma Esther OnyekweluHer body was found at a junction. She had been missing for some days and was killed despite the ransom her family paid.JanuaryIdemili South LGA, Anambra State11Unnamed N/AShe was killed by her brother-in-law after she went to demand her son’s return. Her son had been living with the uncle following the demise of his father. The uncle macheted him to death alongside his mother.January 22Onitsha, Anambra State 12Unnamed wheelchair user74She was burnt to deathJanuary 25Abagana, Anambra State13Unnamed girlfriendDied after her boyfriend hit her head with a hammer during an argumentJanuaryAbeokuta, Ogun State14Rachel KosichukwuShe was poisoned by OG 1Savage, an upcoming musician, when she went to visit him at his home.January 26Iyana Isolo, Lagos State15Bisola Ganiyu17She died after giving birth. Her medical needs were neglected by Azeez Olawuyi, a 23-year-old man who raped her.January 28Ajuwon, Ogun State16UnnamedA man (later burnt to death following the incident) beheaded an unnamed woman and kept her head in his house in a case of ritual killingJanuary 27Isoko South LGA, Delta State17Gloria AjineN/AFound in a pool of her blood on her farm with her clothes torn off and her throat slitJanuary 15Ilewo Orile, Ogun State18AdijatN/AFound dead in the house of her boyfriend identified as Ramoni SegunFebruary 3Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State19UnnamedN/AVigilante named Olu killed and dumped her body outside a senator’s houseFebruary 6Okpare Olomi Community in Ughelli South, Delta State20Emrich EffangaN/AStrangled by boyfriend Ndifreke IsaiahFebruary 6Uyo, Akwa Ibom21Unnamed16Raped and murdered on a farm by suspected herdsmenFebruary 10Emure Ekiti, Ekiti State22Lawal HafsohEarly 20sDismembered by Islamic Cleric Abdulrahman Bello (suspected boyfriend)February 10Ilorin, Kwara State
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The femicide incidents happened across different parts of Nigeria, with the available ages of the victims ranging from 10 to 74.
DOHS Cares Foundation has submitted a Proposed Bill on Femicide to the National Assembly and State House of Assemblies.
A portion of the proposed bill reads: “The purpose of this law is to criminalise and penalise femicide, as well as strengthen the actions for effective prevention, protection, care, investigation, prosecution, punishment and comprehensive reparation to guarantee the right of women and girls to a life free from violence and stereotyped patterns of behaviour in accordance with due diligence and other international human rights obligations.”
If the bill is passed into law, it is expected to help address and curb Nigeria’s worrying femicide trend.
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