The Anambra Government has warned that anyone in the state who denies women or girls their rightful inheritance because of their gender could face up to four years in prison.

The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, gave the warning in a letter addressed to the Nigeria Police and made available to journalists in Awka.

The Anambra Commissioner also directed the police to thoroughly investigate cases involving the denial of women and girls their inheritance rights and ensure that offenders are prosecuted.

Nweke said in the letter that depriving women of property inheritance on the basis of gender constitutes an offence under Section 22 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2017 of Anambra State.

The Commissioner urged the police to investigate all reported cases of gender-based disinheritance and forward the case files to his office for prosecution.

The Attorney-General noted that despite several decisions of the Supreme Court declaring customs and practices that prevent women from inheriting property unconstitutional and illegal, some people still engage in the practice.

“In light of the foregoing, you are kindly requested to ensure that your office thoroughly investigates all reported cases of gender-based disinheritance and that the case files are transmitted to this ministry for further action,” Nweke said.

He disclosed that the state government had designated its Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Unit to prosecute offenders under the law.

The unit, he added, would also handle other cases involving domestic violence and sexual offences.

(NAN)

The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the kidnap of 20 women working on a groundnut farm in Mukura village, Kasuwan-Garba District of Mariga local government of the state even as the LG Chairmen puts the figure of the victims at 47.

Police Public Relations Officer PPRO Superintendent of Police Wasiu Abiodun who confirmed the incident said it occured on Saturday.

“On 28th Sept 2026, report received indicated that on 27th Sept 2026 at about 3pm, suspected bandits abducted over twenty persons at Mukura village, Kasuwan-Garba District of Mariga LGA.

Abiodun said joint security rescue efforts were ongoing.

However the Chairman of the local government, Alhaji Aliyu Bagga Muhamadu, speaking to local reporters said 47 farmers, all women, working on a groundnut farm were kidnapped.

“47 people were abducted and report reaching me indicated that one of the women has given birth in their custody”.

Aliyu Bagga Muhamadu also added that the kidnappers have made contacts with the families of the women, demanding ransom of N2 million for each of them before they would be released.

According to him, the military and vigilance groups have been mobilized and are now trailing them to ensure the safe release of the victims.

The National Assembly will soon deepen the digitisation of parliamentary records by translating Nigerian laws into Igbo Hausa, Yoruba and other local languages to expand public access to legislative information.

Mr Henry Nwawuba, the Executive Secretary, National Assembly Library Trust Fund disclosed this while declaring open the 2026 National Assembly Library Week on Monday in Abuja.

The event was themed, “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People.”

Nwawuba said the three-day programme was designed as an annual platform to promote legislative research, access to information and effective utilisation of the resources of the National Assembly Library.

He described the library as more than a collection of books, saying “it serves as the knowledge infrastructure of the legislature and a repository of parliamentary records.”

He said the library was working to ensure that lawmakers, legislative aides, researchers and other stakeholders have access to authoritative parliamentary records, including Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, Committee reports and Acts passed by the National Assembly.

Nwawuba said the Trust Fund was investing in electronic repositories and upgrading of its E-Library, while developing a National Assembly Library mobile application to make legislative information more accessible to lawmakers, staff members, researchers and members of the public.

He also announced plans for a Bills Tracker, which would enable users to follow bills and monitor their progress through the legislative process.

According to him, the library is developing infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to simplify Bills, Acts and legislative procedures for Nigerians.

He said the planned translation of laws into local languages would broaden access to legislative information and enable more citizens to understand laws that affect their daily lives.

Nwawuba said the library would also organise public policy dialogues to deepen citizens’ participation in public hearings and create more opportunities for interaction among legislators, citizens, researchers and other stakeholders.

He added that the initiatives were aimed at addressing inconsistencies in official parliamentary documents and the circulation of fake or unauthorised copies of National Assembly records.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library, particularly in an era of increasing misinformation, disinformation and the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Akpabio, represented by Sen. Osita Ngwu, described the library as a critical link between evidence, knowledge and legislative decision-making and called for continued support for its development.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, represented by the House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, said legislative records were essential to understanding Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic governance.

Tajudeen said the strength of a legislature should be measured not only by the laws it enacted, but also on how effectively it documented its activities, preserved institutional knowledge and made such information available to future generations.

He said technology and artificial intelligence could improve legislative research, records preservation and access to information, but cautioned that their adoption must be guided by accuracy, security, professional judgment.

The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the National Assembly could not be truly independent if it lacked the capacity to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its institutional knowledge and records.

Ogunlana said the library had an important role as a bridge between parliamentary records, legislation and the people, stressing that Parliament could not be fully transparent if its records could not be found, understood and trusted.

He identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as key components of Nigeria’s democratic memory, explaining that the Order Paper provides the agenda for legislative business.

The Clerk warned against the circulation of incomplete, outdated, altered or unauthorised Bills, Acts and other parliamentary documents, saying digital technology had made it possible for documents to be manipulated and circulated.

He stressed that the integrity of an Act depended not merely on the existence of a document, but on the ability to establish which version was authentic, which was authoritative and the legal process through which it emerged.

He noted that the continued widespread use of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004, highlighted the challenges of maintaining a current and authoritative consolidated body of federal legislation.

He explained that the LFN 2004 reflected the laws covered by that revision exercise and was not automatically updated whenever a new Act was enacted.

Ogunlana said the National Assembly must also strengthen cybersecurity, digital preservation, secure authentication, access controls, backup systems and staff members’ training as parliamentary records become increasingly digitised.

He warned that while digitisation would make parliamentary information easier to access, search and disseminate, it could also expose records to cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation of official sources.

The Clerk said digital platforms must therefore be accessible and secure, while electronic records must be available, authentic and traceable.

He said the National Assembly Library should evolve beyond being a repository where documents are kept to becoming an institution where parliamentary knowledge is preserved, authenticated and made accessible to lawmakers, researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, students and the wider public.

The President of the Nigerian Library Association, Dr Lawal Umar, called for sustained investment in libraries and modern information technology to improve access to legislative information, while urging stronger collaboration between the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.

The Secretary-General, Conference of Speakers of African Legislatures, Amb. Debo Oyewale, said African legislatures had much to learn from one another in building institutions capable of preserving legislative memory.

(NAN)