Nigeria, April 6 -- A married woman, visibly intoxicated, approaches a married man in a bar and begins flirting. The man clearly declines and even points out his wife nearby.

Undeterred, the woman escalates the situation by confronting the wife directly taunting her and insinuating an affair.

The wife, provoked and angered, reacts physically and assaults the woman. The instigator then reports the incident to the police.

At first glance, the answer may seem obvious. But the law rarely deals in absolutes.

Under Nigerian criminal law, assault or battery is defined by the unlawful application of force. On the surface, the wife's action physically attacking the woman meets this definition.

Provocation does not justify assault it only mit...