'Child bride' inquiry in Nigeria




Nigeria's Senate has ordered an investigation into reports that one of its members has married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.

Ahmad Sani Yerima, 49, is alleged to have married her at the national mosque in Abuja several weeks ago.

Senators called for the investigation after receiving a petition by protesting women's groups, who believe Mr Sani has broken the law.

The senator has not spoken publicly about the reports of his marriage.

The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Lagos, says Nigeria's human rights commission has already begun an investigation.

Mr Sani was the governor of Zamfara state, where he oversaw the introduction of Sharia law - for the first time in a northern state - in 1999.

Legal action

Our correspondent says reports of the marriage - appearing in newspapers - are creating a storm among human rights groups.

“ This very evil act should not be seen to be perpetrated by one of our distinguished legislators ”
Mma Wokocha Women's Medical Association head

The female senators, lawyers and doctors who are protesting say that they fear for the child's health.

"What we are concerned with is that our minors, the girl child, should be allowed to mature, before going into marriage," Mma Wokocha, President of the Women's Medical Association and one of those behind the petition, told the BBC.

"This very evil act should not be seen to be perpetrated by one of our distinguished legislators ,  that is what we are saying.''

The senator is reported to have paid a dowry of $100,000 (£66,000) to the child's parents - and to have brought the girl into Nigeria from Egypt.

The women's groups want Mr Sani to be taken to court, to face a fine and a jail sentence.

Our reporter says the whereabouts of the teenager are unknown - and it is not clear whether she has any parent or guardian with her.

Newspaper reports have also accused the senator of having previously married a 15-year-old girl in 2006.

The investigation is to be carried out by a Senate committee.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/8649035.stm

Published: 2010/04/28 16:34:22 GMT


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8649035.stm

take the second pic down cause that is NOT the girl

sjeezy8:

take the second pic down cause that is NOT the girl

point of correction, was posted in the Slovenia language and translation appeared to validate my initial thought.

frosbel:

An Egyptian girl of the same age as Senator's wife.

( Not the girl in question )

[img]http://0.static.zurnal24.si/images/435973/article_main_wide.jpg[/img]

How can some one harbour so much hate for a particular group of people.Why cant you see that this is just an allegation.You had to go to the extent of posting picture of a kid bride you found on the net.I stay in Abuja and FYI the girl he married is a trained medical doctor.Since nobody BBC staff inclusive have met the bride in person you should try to add "alleged" when spraying this rumour further.

mistakay:

How can some one harbour so much hate for a particular group of people.Why cant you see that this is just an allegation.You had to go to the extent of posting picture of a kid bride you found on the net.I stay in Abuja and FYI the girl he married is a trained medical doctor.Since nobody BBC staff inclusive have met the bride in person you should try to add "alleged" when spraying this rumour further.

You are twisting my words.


How on earth you came up with the pathetic and silly idea that I have so much hate for Muslims is beyond me.

I have told u time and time again that I only point out numerous issues related to news articles that I have a problem with like child marriage, violence, sharia etc. Does this mean i hate muslims ? Absolutely Not

Christianity is mocked, ridiculed, laughed at on a daily basis, and so is Judaism etc. but no one has come out with blazing guns to start a fight.

Please desist from using deceptive tactics, i know your game. It was clearly stated that the girl is not the bride, a mistake was made on a Solvenian web site.

Chill out and relax, you guys take everything ,no matter how trivial so so personal.

Abeg jo.

@mistakay ,

Mind you, in some other articles I verified that in many cultures in the past and some in the present, girls as young as 14 get married etc but definitely not to men 30 years older.

Thats my problem , the age gap.

Fight the good fight Frosbel!!!

Can you have a good look at this man?

It aint his first time of disgracing Nigeria

And painfully enough, I wont be surprised if nothing happens to him and he returning in a few years time to campaign for the presidenc
Its now official; we have been ruled by stark illiterates, educated illiterates, area boys and fathers (social miscreants), robbers, tribalists, murderers, terrorists, to name a few, who all have one thing in common, corrupt. And now by a remorseless and insightless, cold and calculating paedophile!

This is all a joke!

Please can you wake me up when it's all over?

I dont think it is a rumor cos I saw human right activists (women) at the senate chambers
trying to register a unanimos unsupport

[img]http://:-\ [/img] wonders shall never. who knows what he has in mind b4 marrying her

Nigeria truly needs to break up.

mistakay:

How can some one harbour so much hate for a particular group of people.Why cant you see that this is just an allegation.You had to go to the extent of posting picture of a kid bride you found on the net.I stay in Abuja and FYI the girl he married is a trained medical doctor.Since nobody BBC staff inclusive have met the bride in person you should try to add "alleged" when spraying this rumour further.

mistakay, I do know one of his wives is  a trained medical doctor currently studying for a Masters degree in public health but i think she is different from the 13year he is alleged to have recently married. The allegation seems to hold some degree of truth considering the extent of the public outcry

Dear me

what the hell is this nigerians?

i saw this on the homepage of BBC. how shameful. i can't even remember the last time nigeria was in the international news for something positive. something inspiring.

lets hope your footballers can correct that come this summer.

just look at this disgusting old man. That he is a senator is just an embarrassement to all africans really.

who are the egyptian parents of this girl? they should be prosecuted.

ponytail:

mistakay, I do know one of his wives is  a trained medical doctor currently studying for a Masters degree in public health but i think she is different from the 13year he is alleged to have recently married. The allegation seems to hold some degree of truth considering the extent of the public outcry

u took this outta my mouth
@mistakay, n u would believe it if some1 told u that d girl in question is a trained medical doctor? at 13/15 years old,medical doctor my foot.
Yerima needs to be sentenced to jail!!period

How can some one harbour so much hate  for a particular group of people.Why cant you see that this is just an allegation.You had to go to the extent of posting picture of a kid bride you found on the net.I stay in Abuja and FYI the girl he married is a trained medical doctor.Since nobody BBC staff inclusive have met the bride in person you should try to add "alleged" when spraying this rumour further.

dont be ridiculous.

how can a 13 yr old be a trained medical doctor?

for me, if the story has appeared on BBC, it has merit. cus BBC in particular is very careful about publishing such stories. If it were CNN or Fox or something like that, you might have a case.

Lets not mince words when it comes to evil actions like this. They should be unequivocally condemned. This man is shameful. Islam as a religion needs to re-evaluate the appropriatness of some of their customs.

That Mohammed married a kid (mod, if you are scared, delete the whole comment. dont change my words) doesnt mean it should be done now. Ridiculous.

that is the power on oil money

this girl has been sold by her parent for N15.5m naira, i wonder if she would have been worth that much if she was a Nigerian

just take a look at his picture, he is obviously born to herd cattle, if not for the distorted nature of the nigerian state, this fool is suposed to be in a bush somwhere herding his cows for peanuts, i dont blame him, when a monkey sees free bananas what do u expect?

He is a Ped/ophile, a child molester and a perverted retard
What a bas/tard!
Imagine him running from Egypt to marry her in Nigeria because it was against the law there

So he is really going to look a girl that young in the eye and bed her??

Which sane man would get aroused by a girl that young?

If he actually married a 13 year old, I think his koko should be cut off. That will make him a sick pervert and a pedo**phile.

A Nigerian senator for that matter!

As if we don't have enough problems already, now we are going to be known as the Pedophile Nation of Africa, what is wrong with Nigeria? Why are these frightening and evil stories always coming from the country? Why should an old man in the Nigerian Senate travel all the way to Egypt, buy a 13yr old child and then marry her publicly at the national mosque!!!! Fellow Nigerians, our children will curse us in our old age if we sit back and watch these animals set up their altars of abomination in our highest national offices! If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. Shame on all Nigerians! So we are now a country that not only breeds terrorists, but also supports and elects child molesters and child rapists! Shame on all of us this man remains in office! Just when you think we have already hit rock-bottom, we find ourselves a new low to descend to. Animal leaders! Animal country!

moremi2008:

As if we don't have enough problems already, now we are going to be known as the craddle-robber Nation of Africa, what is wrong with Nigeria? Why are these frightening and evil stories always coming from the country? Why should an old man in the Nigerian Senate travel all the way to Egypt, buy a 13yr old child and then marry her publicly at the national mosque!!!! Fellow Nigerians, our children will curse us in our old age if we sit back and watch these animals set up their altars of abomination in our highest national offices! If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. Shame on all Nigerians! So we are now a country that not only breeds terrorists, but also supports and elects child molesters and child rapists! Shame on all lawmakers if this man remains in office! Just when you think we have already hit rock-bottom, we find ourselves a new low to descend to. Animal leaders! Animal country!

point of correction, at the bolded: dat should be for d lawmakers and not for the entire Nigerians

WOW           THis is child molestation.  

utotomi50:

WOW           THis is child molestation.  

utotomi, bros make we yarn on yahoo na, Iowa get tuition waiver for int'l student with CGPA above 3.5?

He should be ashamed of himself. With that kind of money, I think he bought the girl period. There are  better, mature and beautiful women in Nigeria. I wonder what kind of food the girl can prepare for him

salamander:

He should be ashamed of himself. With that kind of money, I think he bought the girl period. There are  better, mature and beautiful women in Nigeria. I wonder what kind of food the girl can prepare for him

Cerelac and Babina, of course!

nethacker:

point of correction, at the bolded: dat should be for d lawmakers and not for the entire Nigerians

We can no longer duck responsibility by blaming our leaders. We didn't import these leaders - they are from our own communities! Shame on ALL Nigerians for this!

It was with a mixture of feelings that I followed the news of Senator Yerima's marriage to a new bride.

Legally permission for marriage / sexual intercourse with girls under common law; global and local historical perspectives


When the news broke, the Nigerian press celebrated the much needed distraction form the monotonous flat scenery that held sway in their media: "Yar'dua ate two morsels yesterday. Today, he recognised his mother and grunted to the prayers of the pastors who paid him a visit, ".

The traditional actions of the press caused me to search for what the common law had to say on marriage and sexual relations. During my search I encountered the following:


1) Consensual sexual relations outside of marriage by itself is not a crime in western law.
2) Western law sets an age when a girl can consent to intercourse (Age of consent).
3) Western law sets an age when marriage can legally take place (Marriageable age).
4) The age of consent in almost all western countries is set lower than the marriageable age
5) The age of consent varies across western countries and indeed all over the world.

At one end of the spectrum is the Vatican state which has fixed 12years as the age of consent. Spain fixed it at 13, Greece adopted 15 and some still 18.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Europe


Interestingly the link above reveals a historical variation in age of consent even in the same country.

In England, it was set at 12years of age in 1275. It was lowered to 10years in the latter part of the 16th century.A concern that young girls were being sold into brothels led Parliament to raise the age of consent to 13years in 1875 under the Offences against the Person Act 1875. Afterwards, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 raised the age of consent to 16, a point where it still stands till today.


The variation depicted above finds itself replicated in Africa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Africa


What went forth as regards variation in age of consent applies also to the age of marriage.


The following are states within the United States of America along with the age at which marriage is legally permitted:
Massachusetts,18 without consent, 14 (male), 12 (female) with parental and judicial consent.
New Hampshire: 18 without consent, 14 (male), 13 for females, in cases of "special cause" with parental consent and court permission.
Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, 18 without consent, 15 with parental consent, 16 without parental consent


An interesting find is that of the Tanzanian law. It sets the age of marriage thus:
"18 for males and 15 for females, 14 with court permission if specific circumstances make marriage appear desirable. Penal Code provides that persons of "African or Asiatic descent" may marry or permit marriage of a girl under 12 in accordance with their custom or religion if marriage is not intended to be consummated before she is 12".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriageable_age


If these are the variations and the means with which the ages are arrived at ,what then is the cry about? Any country or people should have the right to formulate its own age of marriage.


PS: Though a search for age of consent in Nigeria often comes up with age 13 , I have not been able to verify the claim. The link below however alludes to the fact that its is not clearly defined, especially at a national level. http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/generaltopics/?p=7564.
My personal experience at my hospital here in Lagos, Nigeria, is that patients of the Northern extraction usually present, pregnant at age 15 +/- (they are usually married)

So whats the big deal! Personally, I would not do what he has done, but has he really done anything wrong? Or is it the age difference that is an issue here? Is it ok then for a 16year old to get married to a 13 year old? Or is it evil for a 70 year old to get married to a 22 year old?

@ titus - you missed a very crucial point in your analysis - the risk of VVF (amongst other things)

titus:

It was with a mixture of feelings that I followed the news of Senator Yerima's marriage to a new bride.

Legally permission for marriage / sexual intercourse with girls under common law; global and local historical perspectives


When the news broke, the Nigerian press celebrated the much needed distraction form the monotonous flat scenery that held sway in their media: "Yar'dua ate two morsels yesterday. Today, he recognised his mother and grunted  to the prayers of the pastors who paid him a visit, ".

The traditional actions of the press caused me to search for what the common law had to say on marriage and sexual relations. During my search I encountered the following:


1) Consensual sexual relations outside of marriage  by itself is not a crime in western law.
2) Western law sets an age when a girl can consent to intercourse (Age of consent).
3) Western law sets an age when marriage can legally take place (Marriageable age).
4) The age of consent in almost all western countries is set lower than the marriageable age
5) The age of consent varies across western countries and indeed all over the world.

At one end of the spectrum is the Vatican state which has fixed 12years as the age of consent. Spain fixed it at 13, Greece adopted 15 and some still 18.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Europe


Interestingly the link above reveals a historical variation in age of consent even in the same country.

In England, it was set at 12years of age in 1275. It was lowered to 10years in the latter part of the 16th century.A concern that young girls were being sold into brothels led Parliament to raise the age of consent to 13years in 1875 under the Offences against the Person Act 1875. Afterwards, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 raised the age of consent to 16, a point where it still stands till today.


The variation depicted above finds itself replicated in Africa  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Africa


What went  forth as regards variation in age of consent applies also to the age of marriage.


The following are states within the United States of America along with the age at which marriage is legally permitted:
Massachusetts,18 without consent, 14 (male), 12 (female) with parental and judicial consent.
New Hampshire: 18 without consent, 14 (male), 13 for females, in cases of "special cause" with parental consent and court permission.
Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, 18 without consent, 15 with parental consent, 16 without parental consent


An interesting find is that of the Tanzanian law. It sets the age of marriage thus:
"18 for males and 15 for females, 14 with court permission if specific circumstances make marriage appear desirable. Penal Code provides that persons of "African or Asiatic descent" may marry or permit marriage of a girl under 12 in accordance with their custom or religion if marriage is not intended to be consummated before she is 12".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriageable_age


If these are the variations and the means with which the ages are arrived at ,what then is the cry about? Any country or people should have the right to formulate its own age of marriage.


PS: Though a search for age of consent in Nigeria often comes up with age 13 , I have not been able to verify the claim. The link below however alludes to the fact that its is not clearly defined, especially at a national level. http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/generaltopics/?p=7564.
My personal experience at my hospital here in Lagos, Nigeria, is that patients of the Northern extraction usually present, pregnant at age 15 +/- (they are usually married)

So whats the big deal! Personally, I would not do what he has done, but has he really done anything wrong? Or is it the age difference that is an issue here? Is it ok then for a 16year old to get married to a 13 year old? Or is it evil for a 70 year old to get married to a 22 year old?

^^ in as much as the above analysis is true, I would say there is nothing wrong with early marriage.On the other hand, I did not see where any of those stated laws mentioned marriage between 50yrs old and a 13 yrs old, let's apply common sense here and do what is ryt, With or without parental or judicial consent, I expect yerima - being a scholar as he claims to be- to be sensible enough to know that the girl(bride) in question is young enough to be his grand-daughter . I knw some men will be very unreasonable here because they ain't the one carrying pregnancy for 9months

shesi:


dont be ridiculous.

how can a 13 yr old be a trained medical doctor?

for me, if the story has appeared on BBC, it has merit. cus BBC in particular is very careful about publishing such stories. If it were CNN or Fox or something like that, you might have a case.

Lets not mince words when it comes to evil actions like this. They should be unequivocally condemned. This man is shameful. Islam as a religion needs to re-evaluate the appropriatness of some of their customs.

That Mohammed married a kid (mod, if you are scared, delete the whole comment. dont change my words) doesnt mean it should be done now. Ridiculous.

I have no interest in this story but i was atracted by the highlighted statements.
The same BBC that published and aired a doctored and seemingly fictitious Yar Adua interview.
When i confronted them asking for proof that they did a through home work and evidence that they were sure who they were speaking to, they gave me answers that even AIT would find ridiculous.
BBC can be thorough but they are not the saint you imagine.
I wonder why no one has been able to post or publish a pic of the girl in question.
Was the wedding held in darkness?
Accepted she is in puddah (or whatever it is spelt), has she always been under lock and key all her life?
I have time for more important things than low lives like Sani Yerima but i would not be surprised if this was another rumour without substance.
Nigeria is being ruled and governed by lies, deceit and rumours.
This is the season, so anything is possible.