NAPTIP Rescues Woman Brutalized by Husband as Viral Video Sparks Outrage

 

A disturbing video showing a Nigerian woman being violently assaulted by her husband has triggered swift action from authorities, leading to the arrest of the perpetrator and the rescue of the victim. The footage, which spread rapidly across social media, captured the man pinning his wife to the ground by her neck and repeatedly striking her with a table tennis bat. The couple’s children could be heard crying and begging their father to stop, pleading with him not to kill their mother.

Following public outrage, operatives from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), in collaboration with officials from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Women Affairs Secretariat, acted promptly. The suspect was apprehended at the GSM Market in Wuse, Abuja. The rescue team, led by Mandate Secretary Mrs. Adedayo Benjamin-Laniyi, located the victim, identified as Theola Joseph, at their self-contained residence within Wumba Community in the Apo area of the city.

The video, shocking in its brutality, shed light on what human rights advocate Harrison Gwamnishu described as a long history of domestic abuse. According to Gwamnishu, this was not the first time the husband had allegedly tried to take his wife's life. Joseph had previously reached out to the police for help, only to be turned away repeatedly by officers who reportedly dismissed her cries for protection as a "family issue" that should be resolved privately.

Authorities have vowed to ensure the case does not follow the same pattern of neglect. NAPTIP’s Director General, Binta Adamu Bello, OON, expressed deep concern over the incident. She strongly condemned the suspect’s actions and confirmed that the matter will be treated with the seriousness it deserves under the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act of 2015. She also emphasized the agency’s commitment to seeing that justice is served and to protecting vulnerable individuals from such acts of cruelty.

This incident has once again raised pressing questions about the systemic failure of law enforcement to respond adequately to domestic violence reports, especially when victims are left without recourse under the guise of preserving family unity. With the intervention of NAPTIP and the FCT Women Affairs Secretariat, advocates hope this case sets a new precedent—one where survivors of abuse are no longer dismissed, and perpetrators face the full consequences of their actions.