Child sexual abuse in Nigeria is an offence under several sections of chapter 21 of the country's criminal code.[1][2] The age of consent is 18.[3]
UNICEF reported in 2015 that one in four girls and one in ten boys in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18.[4] According to a survey by Positive Action for Treatment Access, over 31.4 percent of girls there said that their first sexual encounter had been rape or forced sex of some kind.[5]
The Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development reported that 1,200 girls had been raped in 2012 in Rivers, a coastal state in southeastern Nigeria.[5][6]
According to UNICEF, six out of ten children in Nigeria experience emotional, physical, or sexual abuse before the age of 18, with half experiencing physical violence.[4][7] Abuse has also occurred in religious settings such as within Protestant denominations and amongst Muslims that practice polygamy.[8]