“They Are Vagabonds and Should Be Arrested,” Justice Omotosho Says as He Dismisses Suit Seeking to Legalise Prostitution in Nigeria

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to legalize prostitution in Nigeria and stop the harassment of sex workers by authorities. The suit, filed by the Lawyers Alert Initiative for Protection of Rights of Children, Women and Indigent, was thrown out by Justice James Kolawole Omotosho, who ruled that prostitution remains illegal and cannot be protected under Nigeria’s laws or Constitution.

The NGO had approached the court asking it to restrain the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), the FCT Minister, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), and the Attorney-General of the Federation from arresting or prosecuting women suspected of sex work in the capital. They also challenged the classification of such women as “articles” or “goods for purchase” by AEPB officials, describing it as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The suit, filed on May 14, 2024, argued that sex workers’ fundamental rights were being violated and asked the court to declare that prostitution should be protected as a personal liberty. But Justice Omotosho ruled that the application was both procedurally flawed and lacked merit.

In his strongly worded judgment, the judge stated that prostitution constitutes an offence under the Penal Code and that sex workers could legally be arrested and jailed for up to two years. He emphasized that the rights claimed by the applicants were unenforceable, and described the attempt to secure legal protection for prostitution as “shameful.”

“This court wonders what kind of message the applicant is sending when it decided to bring an action to protect prostitutes,” Omotosho said. “A reasonable person would have expected that the applicant would instead occupy itself with developing the girl child and protecting the sanctity of womanhood instead of promoting immorality and the spread of sexual diseases.”

He added: “It is indeed shameful that the applicant should file an action such as this.”

Justice Omotosho said the NGO should focus on promoting values like the development of the girl child and protection of womanhood rather than defending what he called “immorality.” He further criticized the reliance on a prior court decision favoring sex workers, noting that such rulings have only persuasive and not binding authority.

Referencing the Penal Code and Nigerian constitutional provisions, the judge explained that certain rights, including liberty, can be restricted when a person is suspected of committing an offence. He said legal protections cannot be extended to activities like prostitution, which he described as undermining public morality, safety, and order.

“The women suspected of engaging in sex work on the streets of Abuja or prostitutes or vagabonds are by their actions committing an offence and thus their fundamental rights can be legally breached,” he ruled.

He warned that accepting the arguments of the applicants would mean that even armed robbers could claim their fundamental rights are being violated during arrest, adding, “This would cause anarchy and chaos in society.”

The judgment also delved into the broader debate between universal and culturally relative interpretations of human rights. While some Western countries have legalized prostitution, the judge stressed that Nigeria, as an African country with strong cultural and moral values, has every right to reject such practices.

“It is a known fact that prostitutes are some of the clearest examples of indecency in society. They are champions of immorality through their immoral dressing, vulgar language, and are chief culprits in spreading sexual diseases,” he said.

He added that permitting sex work in Abuja would “destroy the moral fibre of the city and turn it into a hotbed of immorality.”

He further noted, “Prostitution is alien and has never been part of our culture. Prostitution or ‘Olosho’ and ‘Ashewo’ as the Yorubas call it, ‘Akwuna-Akwuna’ as the Igbos call it, ‘Karuwa’ as the Hausas call it or ‘Hookup’ as the young people say it, is alien to our culture.”

Even in some Western countries, he argued, …“In the United States of America for instance, apart from a few counties in Nevada, prostitution is illegal in the other 50 states,” Justice Omotosho noted. “There is absolutely no justification for prostitution in Nigeria in the context of our cultural norms and tradition, and in fact, prostitution is an anathema in Africa.”

He dismissed the argument that prostitution should be legalized in line with international human rights norms, insisting that such views fail to consider African cultural values. Citing the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the judge emphasized that human rights must reflect the cultural and moral framework of the society they serve.

“This philosophy is what is known as cultural relativism in the framework of human rights,” he said. “Universality may be theoretically sound, but if applied blindly, it offends the unique cultural values of different societies.”

Using the example of same-sex marriage, he stated that while some Western nations embrace such rights, they remain deeply unacceptable in conservative and religious societies, including many African and Arab countries.

“Thus, cultural relativism means that these nations can choose which rights to adopt or not,” he said.

Justice Omotosho concluded that the attempt to protect the rights of sex workers under the guise of fundamental freedoms was baseless and contrary to Nigeria’s legal and moral standards.

“The prostitutes which the group sought to protect are vagabonds,” he declared. “The AEPB is well within its right to arrest and prosecute them as they constitute nuisance in the FCT and are clearly committing an offence by parading themselves as ‘women of easy virtue.’”

“I therefore hold that this application filed by the applicant has no basis, and the rights claimed are unenforceable in light of the provisions of Section 45 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Preamble to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” he ruled.