Yes, FGM is illegal in Nigeria. The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act of 2015 criminalizes female genital mutilation at the federal level, with penalties of up to four years in prison and fines up to ₦200,000 for anyone who performs the procedure or hires someone else to do it. Most states have since adopted the law or passed their own version. The harder truth is enforcement: no person has ever been convicted under the VAPP Act for FGM.
What the VAPP Act Prohibits
Section 6 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, enacted in May 2015, makes it a crime to perform female genital mutilation or to hire someone else to perform it. The law also reaches attempts and anyone who encourages, assists, or arranges for the procedure to be carried out.1FIDA Nigeria. Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015
That reach matters. The person physically holding the blade is not the only one exposed to prosecution. Family members who arrange the procedure, community members who pressure parents into it, and professionals who assist can all be charged. Healthcare workers are not exempt, even though an estimated 12.7 percent of FGM procedures in Nigeria are performed in clinical settings. The World Health Organization classifies all forms of FGM as harmful regardless of who performs them, and Nigerian criminal liability follows the same logic.
Penalties
The VAPP Act sets two tiers of punishment:
- Performing or commissioning FGM: up to four years in prison, a fine of up to ₦200,000, or both.1FIDA Nigeria. Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015
- Attempting FGM, or encouraging, assisting, or arranging it: up to two years in prison, a fine of up to ₦100,000, or both.1FIDA Nigeria. Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015
States that adopt the VAPP Act are not required to copy the federal numbers. Ebonyi State, for instance, sets a prison term of three to five years and fines of ₦300,000 to ₦500,000 for performing or commissioning FGM, with one to two years and fines of ₦200,000 to ₦300,000 for those who encourage or assist.2Ebonyi State of Nigeria. Ebonyi State Code Law No. 002 of 2018 – Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law Several state legislatures have taken the view that the federal maximums are too lenient to deter a practice this entrenched.
Where the Law Actually Applies
Here is a wrinkle that catches many people off guard. The VAPP Act, as a federal law, applies directly only within the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. Under Nigeria’s federal system, each of the 36 states must pass its own version of the law before it has effect locally. Within the FCT, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons administers the Act.3National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. Violence Against Persons Prohibition Department
Adoption has come a long way since 2015. As of the most recent tracking, 32 states (including the FCT) have formally adopted the VAPP Act by having their governor sign it into law, most of them between 2018 and 2023. Katsina and Zamfara were among the latest, in 2023.4Partners West Africa Nigeria. VAPP Tracker
A few gaps remain. Kano has not passed the legislation. Rivers State passed the bill in January 2020 but has been waiting on gubernatorial assent since 2021. Taraba passed it in February 2022 and is in the same position.4Partners West Africa Nigeria. VAPP Tracker Without the governor’s signature, the bill does not take effect.
A separate category of states rely on their own existing laws rather than domesticating the VAPP Act. Lagos uses a combination of its Protection Against Domestic Violence Law, its Child Rights Law, and its Criminal Law. Ekiti passed a Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Amendment Law in 2019.4Partners West Africa Nigeria. VAPP Tracker Whether those frameworks protect against FGM as explicitly as a dedicated VAPP adoption is contested, and advocates have pushed for direct FGM provisions rather than reliance on broader domestic violence statutes.
Why No One Has Been Convicted
The federal ban is a decade old, and most states have signed on. Yet no person has been convicted under the VAPP Act for performing, commissioning, or assisting with FGM. The law exists; the prosecutions do not.
Public awareness is one piece of it. In some communities, an estimated 95 percent of people have no idea that laws against FGM exist at all. That awareness gap extends to the officials meant to enforce the law. Police and local authorities are often unfamiliar with the provisions of the VAPP Act or their state’s equivalent, so reports that do get made rarely turn into investigations.
Cultural weight is the other piece. FGM is tied to coming-of-age traditions, social acceptance, and perceptions of marriageability in many communities. In places where informal justice systems carry more authority than formal courts, families face social pressure to continue the practice no matter what the statute books say. Prosecution needs someone to come forward, and in communities that treat the practice as normal, reporting is rare.
Nigeria also has no mandatory reporting law for FGM. Healthcare workers, teachers, and other professionals who encounter suspected cases are not legally required to notify authorities. The practice stays hidden inside families, and the law stays unused.
How to Report FGM
NAPTIP is the main federal agency receiving FGM reports. Complaints can be made anonymously through any of these channels:5National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. Contact NAPTIP
- Toll-free line: 0800CALLNAPTIP (0800 225 562 7874)
- Short code: 627
- Phone: 07030000203
- Email: info@naptip.gov.ng
- Headquarters: No. 2028, Dalaba Street, Wuse Zone 5, FCT Abuja
State police and social welfare offices also take complaints, though awareness among local officers varies widely. Given the enforcement record, following up persistently and looping in civil society organizations that work on FGM meaningfully improves the chances a report leads to action.