Sometime in the month of May this year, there was a crackdown of more than 60 women accused of being sex workers in Abuja. Many of the women alleged that they were assaulted and publicly shamed.
However, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday 18/12 /19 declared that sex work is not a criminal offence in Nigeria, and that it is a violation of the rights of alleged prostitutes as enshrined under Section 37 of the Constitution for any security agent to break into their homes. Hon. Justice Binta Murtala Nyako delivered the judgment in a case filed by Lawyers Alert on behalf of one Constance Nkwocha & 15 Ors. V. Min. of FCT & 5 Ors. She finally awarded damages against the Respondents and in favour of the Applicants in the sum of N1.6 Million.
The court awarded 16 of the women who sued the sum of 100,000 naira ($275) each after ruling that their 2017 arrest was an infringement of their right to privacy.
