The first time I had sex with my husband, I felt serious pains and was bleeding. I had to tell my auntie and she gave me some medicine. Then I told her that I will never allow him to do that to me again. My auntie told me that if I stop after the first time, the wound will never heal. At that time my husband was a stubborn man and anytime he came to have sex with me, I just started crying. He would tell me that Allah is blessing and rewarding me so I should not be crying. (14-year-old girl, married at age 13)

http://www.popcouncil.org/projects/TA_NigeriaChildMarriage.html

To use God or allah,Shango, Amadioha or the long juju of Aro to justify this gross sexual molestation of the helpless members of our society that we ought to protect ,makes it even more despicable in my books and in the eyes of any decent human being.
Underaged kids do not belong naked on a bed.

i wonder what pleasure they got from phocking (apology to AJ) small girls. i pity that girl in the story.

Pastor Marries School Girl
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - By Lois Okereke

Head pastor of the Glory of God and Miracle Church, Pastor Emmanuel Chisaokwu Michael, has wedded a school girl, Juliet Uzoamaka Uzoeghelu, in his church.

Despite the disapproval of neighbours and friends, the couple went ahead to sign the dotted lines in front of family members and the congregation in the church, located at 1, Alabi Williams Crescent, Olusesi Bus Stop, Agbado Road.

During the wedding, the pastor gave orders that no one, except the photographer he contracted, must take photographs. When our reporter tried to take a photograph of the couple with his camera phone, he was bundled out of the hall and locked up in a room.

The River state born pastor showed up a few minutes later, collected his phone and demanded that all the photographs be deleted, after which he was allowed back into the hall.

The pastor later gave orders that the reporter should be monitored so that he does not take any more photographs.

Another reporter, who sought the reaction of close neighbours of the church on the same day, found out that most of them were against the marriage, as they stood outside the church, insulting those in attendance.

One of the neighbours, who pleaded anonymity, condemned the pastor, saying that he should be arrested for marrying an underage school girl.

“I have known this girl even before her father died. She is too young to get married. I can tell you categorically that she isn’t more than 14 years of age. This pastor should be arrested for destroying this girl’s life,” he said.

“You can see for yourself how everyone is abusing him and people attending the wedding. I am sure God will never forgive this so-called pastor,” he added.

Another neighbour told P.M.News that the pastor and the bride’s stepmother should be made to face the law.

P.M.News investigations revealed that Juliet (the bride) and two of her siblings, whose parents are deceased, had been living with their stepmother since the demise of their father.

P.M.News also learnt that Juliet, who ought to be in SS 2, was a scholarship student at Rehoboth Secondary School before she dropped out because of the marriage.

(CNN) -- "When I got married I was scared," remembers 10-year-old Nujood Ali. "I didn't want to leave my family and siblings."
Yemeni lawyer Shada Nasser helped 10-year-old Nujood Ali divorce her 30-year-old husband. At an age when girls in the West still play with dolls, Nujood found herself married to a man three times her age. But in her home country of Yemen -- a deeply conservative Middle East Muslim nation -- this situation isn't uncommon.

Yemeni lawyer Shada Nasser had long opposed the practice of early marriage when, in April 2008, she got a chance to do something about it.

Arriving at the courthouse for her usual casework one day, Nasser was told about a young girl who had come to court alone. She met Nujood, who told her that she was desperate; she wanted a divorce.

Nasser says she was appalled by Nujood's story, particularly her claims that her 30-year-old husband regularly beat and raped her. It was unheard of for such a young girl to get a divorce, but Nasser didn't hesitate to take the case.

"When I spoke with her, I [felt] like she [was] my daughter," Nasser recalls. "I hugged her and said, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you and you will take the divorce.'"

Since then, Nasser has volunteered to help other young brides, and is working to raise the legal age for marriage in Yemen.http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/26/heroes.shada.nasser/

Saudi 'Infant-Bride' Files For Divorce

A court in Saudi Arabia is reported to be preparing to hear a plea for divorce from an eight-year-old girl who has been married off to a man in his 50s.

The Saudi newspaper al-Watan said the girl had been married off to the man by her father without her knowledge.
The child's mother is thought to be pushing for the marriage to be annulled - though the father opposes the move.

In April, a court in neighbouring Yemen annulled the arranged marriage of another eight-year-old girl.

She had been married to a 28-year-old man.

Child-protection groups say children are often given away in return for hefty dowries, or as a result of old customs in which a father promises his infant daughters and sons to cousins out of a belief that marriage will protect them from illicit relationships.

Activists have called for an end to the practice.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7579616.stm

On the day she witnessed the engagement party of 11-year-old Ghulam Haider to 40-year-old Faiz Mohammed, Sinclair discreetly took the girl aside. "What are you feeling today?" the photographer asked. "Nothing," the bewildered girl answered. "I do not know this man. What am I supposed to feel?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/magazine/09BRI.html

It is just after noon, and inside, in a steamy square room no larger than a prison cell, Aisha Camara is covered in a pink-and-white striped blanket. She briefly lifts a veil that hides her angular features. The griots and her neighbors are celebrating her wedding day, but she is not smiling.

She is 14 years old, and in this town in northern Ivory Coast, and throughout sub-Saharan Africa, such ceremonies are common. It does not matter that in numerous countries on this continent, such early marriages have been illegal for years.

Aisha's family will not publicly discuss this tradition, but people in her community eagerly defend it. People such as Boubacar Maiga, a neighbor who did not attend Aisha's wedding, say forcing girls to marry at such ages protects them from immorality, strengthens clan relationships and honors Islam.

"If a girl doesn't marry at an early age, she'll sleep with many men. Nobody would want to marry her later," said Maiga, 55. Such marriages, he said, keep girls from "adventures."

He married his first wife when she was 11. He forced his oldest daughter to marry last year when she was 12. His next daughter, age 7, is scheduled to wed next year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/africanlives/ivory/ivory.htm