| Sumario: | Rape and associated femicide have stood out as the most typical forms of violence in Nigeria. There appears to be a paucity of information on the pattern of rape in Nigeria, particularly in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. We explored the pattern of rape and femicide incidences in Nigeria during and after the COVID-19 lockdown. A convergent mixed methods design, involving quantitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis was used to establish the pattern in rape and femicide incidences as reported in diverse digital media platforms. A total of 48 rape cases were investigated, of which 12.5% resulted in femicide. More than half (55.6%) of the rape victims were aged 11 to 20 and were predominantly female (97%). A large percentage (42.9%) of the rape perpetrators were between 31 and 45 years of age and were all male. The incidence of rape increased steadily from 5.1% in March to peak at 33.3% in June and declined sharply by the end of August 2020 to 5.1% with rape being more prevalent in Northern Nigeria. There is a need for urgent measures by relevant stakeholders to curtail rape in Nigeria.
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