On Boxing Day, a four-year-old girl walked down the aisle with a 54-year-old man in a traditional marriage ceremony at Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The bizarre union, which was arranged by the girl’s parents, sparked outrage and condemnation from several child rights advocacy groups, who denounced it as illegal, criminal and abusive. According to an online medium, Niger Delta Herald, the girl’s parents claimed that the man, identified as Elder Akpos, was her husband in their previous life, and that she reincarnated several times to look for him. They said that the girl insisted on marrying him, or else she would die peacefully and leave the community.
According to a community source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the girl said: “If I am not allowed to marry my husband, I have no other business in Akeddei community, and I am going to die peacefully and go my way.”
The source added that the people of Akeddei decided to organize a glamorous wedding ceremony to mark the union of the two, and that the event was attended by many guests and well-wishers. However, the marriage was strongly opposed by several child rights advocacy groups, including the Do Foundation, which described it as horrendous and despicable. The foundation said that the marriage violated the constitution and the Child Rights Act, which was domesticated in Bayelsa State in 2016.
The Child Rights Act criminalizes child marriages, and provides for punishment in the forms of imprisonment and heavy fines. It also stipulates that the minimum age of marriage for both males and females is 18 years. The chairperson of the Do Foundation, Barr. Elvis Mannie, said in a statement that the foundation had launched an investigation into the incident, with the hope of saving the child from sexual exploitation and abuse.
He said: “The foundation described the said child marriage as horrendous and despicable, and also a criminal activity, capable of retarding the giant strides made by the government and people of Bayelsa State in the area of protection of child rights.” He called on the government of Bayelsa State, the Gender Response Initiative Team and all stakeholders in the gender response system, including the security agencies, to launch a thorough investigation into this unfortunate incident, with a view to the protection of the child from sexual exploitation, and the arrest and prosecution of all persons found culpable in this despicable event. He also urged the public to report any case of child marriage or abuse to the relevant authorities, and to join the campaign against child marriage and other forms of violence against children.
