A 28-year-old mother of two has accused her partner of nearly five years of subjecting her and their young children to repeated physical abuse, culminating in an incident last week in which she says she and the children were beaten and thrown out into the rain.
Civil society groups who have taken up her case say police at the Ejigbo Division dismissed the matter as a “minor misunderstanding” rather than offering protection.
The survivor, Emmanuella Chinonye Chinkata, says she has lived with Onyebuchi Godwin, 33, at Ejigbo-Isolo for about five years, during which she endured what she described as ongoing assaults, intimidation and threats to her life and the lives of her children, aged three and one year old.
“He habitually beats, bites and assaults her at the slightest provocation, using dangerous objects within reach,” the petition filed on her behalf states, adding that she was assaulted even while pregnant, once allegedly by Godwin’s father, who slapped her.
The most disturbing allegation in the case involves the couple’s infant daughter.
According to the petition, during an assault last year, while Chinkata was carrying her three-month-old baby, “the perpetrator violently dragged the baby by the hair during an attack.”
The document credits a neighbour’s quick intervention with preventing what could have become a fatal outcome.
Matters escalated on Monday, June 22, 2026, when Chinkata says Godwin assaulted her again, biting her back, injuring her leg, and destroying her phone before forcing her and the children outside in the rain along with their belongings.
“They became stranded without shelter until concerned neighbours contacted members of the human rights organisation, Ambassador for Peace and Enlightenment Foundation (AMPEF), who later escorted them to Ejigbo Police Division,” the petition says.
According to the petition, after statements were taken from both Chinkata and Godwin, officers attached to the division’s Human Rights Unit “trivialised the matter as a ‘minor misunderstanding’” and urged her to settle the dispute with her family rather than pursue protective measures.
When Chinkata told officers she no longer wanted to live with Godwin and asked for welfare support for her children, she says she was told police could not help unless she personally funded any court proceedings.
The petition states that no medical referral, emergency shelter, child-protection response, restraining order, psychosocial support, or referral to the Gender Unit in Ikeja was offered despite what advocates describe as visible signs of abuse and clear risk to the family.
The petition was submitted on Chinkata’s behalf by Aderemi Blessing, representing the ZEEC Foundation, AMPEF, and Her Community Hub (HCH), and addressed to the Officer-in-Charge of the Gender Unit at the Nigeria Police Force headquarters in Ikeja.
Copies were sent to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the National Human Rights Commission, and civil society and media organisations.
“This response reflects gross negligence, inadequate training, and poor handling of domestic violence and child protection matters by officers who are expected to protect vulnerable survivors under existing laws and police procedures,” the petition reads.
The groups are calling for the immediate transfer of the case to the Gender Unit in Ikeja for proper investigation, an urgent safety and protection assessment for Chinkata and her children, and medical examination, treatment and psychosocial support for the family.
They are also demanding a formal investigation into the conduct of the Human Rights Unit officers involved, enforcement of child welfare obligations on the alleged perpetrator, referral to shelter, legal aid and rehabilitation services, and prosecution where evidence supports criminal charges for assault, child abuse, property destruction and threats to life.
“The safety, dignity and future of a vulnerable woman and two innocent children are at serious risk if immediate action is not taken,” the petition warns, urging authorities to treat the matter “with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.”
A neighbour identified only as Madam Vera is listed as a witness in the case.
