A Litigation, Arbitration and ADR specialist, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has condemned the inhuman treatment meted out to a young widow in Anambra State.
Badejo-Okusanya, in a statement, said: “This is not culture. This is cruelty.”
Below is the full text of her statement.
The Dehumanizing Treatment of a Young Widow in Nnewi South Local Government Area, Anambra State.
On 7 August 2025, a 32-year-old lawyer lost her husband in a motor accident. Still reeling from her sudden loss, she recently travelled with her mother and two daughters to Ezinifite, Nnewi South LGA, Anambra State, for his burial rites. What she met there was not compassion, but cruelty disguised as culture.
Instead of being allowed to grieve with dignity, she and her family were held hostage by her in-laws, who insisted that her hair must be shaved off with a razor blade in the name of “widowhood rites.” She was told her children would be taken from her if she refused. Earlier today, she managed to escape with her daughters by pretending to go for a stroll. She lodged a report at a Police Station and is now taking refuge in a hotel with nothing but the clothes she and her daughters are wearing and her phone. The burial is tomorrow, and she is not even sure if she will be allowed to attend. This is happening in Nigeria in 2025 — to a female colleague, a sister at the Bar.
This is not culture. This is cruelty. These so-called rites of widowhood are relics of patriarchy, fear, and control. They were never dignified, never humane. That they still exist today is a shameful stain on our collective conscience. Customs that strip women of dignity at their lowest moment are not heritage. They are violence.
- I therefore respectfully call on:
• The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo, CFR and the Hon. Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo to act swiftly to protect this young widow and her family.
• The Police to investigate her unlawful detention and ensure accountability.
• The NBA Women’s Forum, FIDA Nigeria, AWLA, civil society, and women’s rights groups to continue to raise their powerful voices in solidarity with this young woman, shine the light on such practices and support survivors.
• Traditional rulers and community leaders to show moral courage by discarding these archaic customs that have long outlived any meaning they might once have had.
Widows must not be humiliated and coerced in the name of tradition. Practices that dehumanise do not honour our ancestors; they dishonour us all.
This is bigger than one woman. If we tolerate such cruelty, we betray the values of justice, equality, and dignity that our Constitution guarantees. Widowhood should summon compassion, not subjugation.
Let this case be a turning point. No widow in Nigeria should ever again face such barbarity. The time for silence is over. The time for collective action is now.
Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya
Cruel widowhood practices have no place in a just society — traditions should uplift, not strip people of their dignity. It’s time such harmful rites are abolished completely.