The proposed mass wedding of 100 orphaned girls in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State has attracted more attention than was intended.
A move that began as a simple intention to help girls whose parents were killed by bandits has metamorphosed into a full fledged verbal war tinted with religious connotations.
The invitation card announcing that the Speaker Niger State House of Assembly, Barrister Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, would be giving the hands of 100 orphans in marriage was first sighted on the social media platform, Facebook.
According to the information contained in the invite, the mass wedding would be done alongside the flagging off of a 5km road network within the local government headquarters and distribution of cars to the eight district heads and other critical stakeholders in the local government area. The event was scheduled to hold on May 24, 2024.
The Speaker had confirmed to journalists who reached out to him for further clarification that the hands of100 female orphans who lost their parents in banditry attacks in Mariga Local Government Area would be given out in marriage. He said he would pay the dowries for the bridegrooms and had already procured all the materials the 100 girls needed for proper marriage.
The Speaker, who represents Mariga Constituency at the state Assembly however did not disclose the age range of the girls but stated that the girls who would be married off were carefully selected from the 170 girls whose names were submitted to him. The Speaker had said the wedding of the 100 girls was being done with the best of intentions and would serve as a way of ameliorating the sufferings of the poor.
Two days after the information became public, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye blazed with anger on national news platforms over what she perceived as underage marriage and announced that the Ministry has filed for court injunction to stop the Speaker from marrying off the orphans.
Some of the girls proposed for marriage however told reporters that they had planned to get married for a long time but their marriage was delayed due to lack of funds resulting from the death of their parents.
One of the brides, Hussaina Abdullahi, said she is 21 years old and was not being forced into any marriage as she decided to get married by herself. She explained that she had desired marriage since she was 19 but her parents were killed by bandits and that halted her wedding plans.
Hussaina said: “I am not being forced into this marriage. I decided on my own to get married. I already have someone I want to get married to. So when they said we should submit names, I presented him and submitted my name.
“My parents are dead. They were killed in different bandits attacks in our community, and that is why there were no funds to conduct the ceremony, which is why we delayed it till today,”
Twenty years old Habiba Mohammed, who also lost her parents to bandits attacks, said she was not forced into the marriage as she presented the man she wanted to get married to before she was allowed to submit her name.
“Many of the girls who came forward to submit their names lost their parents to banditry and have been trying to do petty trading to help themselves.
“Many of us are already into relationships and we were saving money for our marriage,” she said.
A parent to one of the would be brides, Amina Umar, said her daughter is already 23 years old and has been worried about getting married since their girls usually get married at 18 years. She lamented that lack of financial support led to the delay in her daughter getting married.
Umar said: “I thank God and the Speaker, who decided to sponsor this event in partnership with other well to do individuals. Since the father of my children was killed by bandits, we have been planning to get them married but could not.
“My daughter is already 23 years old, and based on our customs, we get them married between the ages of 18 and 19, but lack of funds and the liabilities we have taking care of the family stopped us from getting her married early.
“It isn’t that she does not have a spouse. We had no money to fund the wedding. We eventually got succour through this intervention.
“We thank and appreciate them for this. We are not the only ones who benefitted. There are others too in similar situations.”
One of the grooms, Saminu Manu, who did not state his age, said he and his prospective bride had been in love since they were children and their relationship blossomed till date.
He said that his parents had been expecting them to get married but lack of funds led them to postpone the wedding for a long time.
Manu said: “The intention to get married has been with us for a long time now but we just did not have the funds.
“My fiancée has no mother or father. She lost her father to bandits when they attacked our village. The mother died shortly after the incident. So there is no one to buy her wedding things for her and that has kept us from taking our relationship to the next level.”
The District Head of Kudun Mariga in Mariga Local Government Area, Shehu Iliyasu Mariga, said that underage marriage is not allowed in the local government area, as they have been warned against it and asked to report any parent who engages in it to the Emir of Kontagora.
He said majority of the girls who were slated to get married have lost both parents while others have only one parent. According to him, it is mostly the fathers who are killed by bandits but hypertension and high blood pressure developed by the mothers due to the burden of family responsibilities have led to the death of several mothers.
He debunked the claim that some of the girls are underaged, saying that they are all above 18 years, which was why serious screening was done before the 100 girls were selected.
He said that they are called girls because they are not married while some of their mates in other local government areas are already mothers.
Mariga said: “The girls are of age and want to get married but there is nothing we can do.
“We were in difficult times as we have been looking for ways to help them get married as we do not want them to engage in fornication.
“The Speaker is a blessing. When we approached him, he asked for a headcount of such children and decided to help.
“He warned us strictly about selfishness. We were told not to bring our own kids since we can afford it. We followed due process.
“The allegations that we forced these children and even removed some of them from school are just stories.
“The reason why I said so is because of the warning issued by the Emir of Kontagora on this same issue. He even delegated us to report such cases to him.
“Normally, even if a child with both parents alive is forced into marriage, we have been directed to notify the Emirate so action must be taken to bring the girl back and allow her to complete her education.
“That is why we give those without parents much more privileges so that it won’t be said that because their parents are dead, we now forced them.”
The District Head of Faggai in Mariga Local Government Area, Alhaji Jamilu Samaila Faggai, said that the initiative for mass weddings is not a new one as it is being done all the time, pointing out that this particular one is laudable because the Speaker decided to sponsor it and help those involved.
“This initiative isn’t new. The Speaker is the one responsible for this laudable initiative and we can’t repay him for this.
“Even if he comes out as President and we elect him, we can’t repay him for all he is doing for us. I am sure that not these 100 girls, but next year, we will carry out this similar initiative in folds.
“Those against it can continue. We are grateful for this initiative. There are those who have completed their secondary school education and these girls, one was even about going to a higher institution when her father was shot dead and she did not receive support, so she couldn’t go. We had to go out and ask for support.
“Those against this, we hope that their intentions are returned to them,” he stated.