Orphans Married Off in Separate Wedding Ceremony in Niger

At least 100 young women, including many orphans, have been married off in separate ceremonies in Nigeria, following widespread outrage in the country.

Friday's event was initially meant to be a mass wedding, but Women’s Affairs Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye filed a court order to stop it, fearing that some girls were underage.

She went back on that decision after reaching an agreement with the Speaker of the Niger State Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, who supported the mass wedding, for the young women to have individual ceremonies.

“I did not intend to stop the marriage but to ensure the girls are of marriageable age and were not being forced into it,” Ms Kennedy-Ohanenye said in a statement.

Our correspondent however gathered that each village head in selected villages conducted separate marriages for the orphaned girls.

Those whose marriages took place were those cleared by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs

The minister, Uju Kennedy Ohaneenye, had visited Kontagora and conducted a thorough examination of the girls and identified those ripe for marriage.

Sources said the minister accompanied by the Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly Abdulmalik Sarikindaji gave the clearance.

Consequently, the idea of mass wedding was shelved for low key marriages in the various villages where the girls reside with the village heads and imams taking charge.

Findings revealed that the marriages of 18 of the girls were conducted in Beri, Bobi and Kompany Bobi after the Jumuat prayers yesterday.

It was learnt that 54 of the 100 marriages will be conducted across various villages in Mariga local government area of the state

The girls were given N500,000 each  for their domestic needs after the marriage and additional N50,000 for any petty business of their choice.

It was learnt that the Speaker gave the assistance but decided to stay off any of the arrangements as he said the gesture was purely for philanthropy for the girls who lost their parents to banditry.

It would be recalled that the speaker and the minister had a misunderstanding over the marriages before it was resolved following the intervention of traditional rulers in the state.

One of the brides’ parents, Mallama Amina Mariga, said the mass wedding was arranged to “celebrate the young women uniformly and give them a sense of togetherness”.

Ms Mariga, like many of the families, was given items towards her daughter’s wedding and dowry payment, including a bed and sewing machine from politicians.

Most of the young women have lost relatives to attacks by armed bandits, who regularly target civilians across the north-western Niger state.

May 25, 2024