Ex-Governor, 60, marries 13 year old girl, paying $100,000 to buy bride’s family.

A former state governor in northern part of Nigeria has married a thirteen-year-old Egyptian girl as his fourth bride.


The marriage was solemnised at the national mosque, Abuja, Nigeria according to Islamic rites.

Ex-governor of Zamfara State, in Northern Nigeria, Ahmed Sani Yeriman Bakura who is now a Senator in the nation’s House of Senate paid a bride price of $100,000, to buy off the Egyptian family.

He also divorced one of his wives to facilitate a space for his new bride as the Islamic law only permits for four wives at a time.


According to reports, the governor, who in the past has been identified as a major protagonist of Sharia law code of Islam in Nigeria, could not have had the wedding in Egypt because the Egyptian authority would not have allowed his spoilt due to laid down rules which forbid that sort of union.

Yariman Bakura exploited Nigeria’s laxity and ineffective rule of law enforcement by shifting the traditional solemnisation of the marriage according to Muslim injunction by moving the ceremony to Nigeria

Egyptian law forbids such a relationship because Bakura is well into his 60s and the laws in Egypt consider his bride a minor.

A source claimed:”The former helmsman of Zamfara State, however, in a deft move relocated the venue of the event to Nigeria, where he believes “anything goes”,

The marriage has been formalised in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
The bride moved 30 members of her family over to Abuja where they were lodged in the top PROTEA Hotel in Asokoro area of Abuja..

An Islamic cleric who spoke to Leadership newspaper said that the whole thing goes counter-cause to Islam.

He said that though there were no limits to how much can be paid as bride price, Islam still preaches moderation in actions.

According to him, the former governor flouted this caveat.

Besides, said the cleric, Yeriman being a public office holder, should not have made such an ostentatious show of wealth.

Those who attended the wedding in Abuja include Sen. Kabiru Gaya, Maina Maaji Lawal, deputy governor of Zamfara State, Mukhtar Hanka, and the Emir of Bakura.

The National Council of Women Societies in Nigeria has condemned the action of the senator, describing it as shameful and degrading exploit.

Speaking through its National President, Hajia Ramatu Usman, the umbrella women’s organisation said Sani’s action did not come to Nigerian women as a surprise because, according to them, many northern governors had been using religion as an excuse for not passing the Child Rights Act.

She further stated that the council had been mounting a campaign against young girls being given out for marriage at ridiculously early ages of 12 or 13 years, adding that the action was against all reasoning.

She touched on both moral and medical imkplication of the governors action claiming early committal of a thirteen year old into marriage constituted serious health danger.
SexualAbuse
According to Usman, “Vesico vaginal fistula has been attributed to under age marriages due to the practice of early marriages in Nigeria, where young girls are given out for marriage at ridiculously early ages as 12 or 13 years.
They get pregnant and when they are ready to deliver, their pelvises are so small for the babies to pass through.


“The baby gets stuck in the birth canal and in some cases dies. The baby’s head wears a hole between the birth canal and the bladder (VVF) or rectum (RVF).


“So, when the dead baby is eventually delivered, the young mother is left with a dead child and she begins to drain urine and/or stool continuously. She develops sores on her skin and smells horribly from the constant drips of urine and stool on her clothes.”
The body therefore advised parents to avoid giving out their under age daughters in marriage in order to check cases of this health risk, which it said is particularly common in the northern part of Nigeria.


The statement further said, “It is a shame that while we are seeking ways to view closely what pushes parents into giving out their underage daughters into early marriages, a former governor of a state is celebrating this act of child trafficking and abuse.”


It also called on well-meaning Nigerians to mount pressure on northern governors to immediately commence work on the Child Rights Act.