A child rights advocacy group, Do Foundation, has faulted a 54-year-old man, identified as Elder Akpos, for marrying a four-year-old girl at Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Daily Trust learnt that the traditional marriage, which took place at the instance and with the consent of the girl’s parents, was held on Tuesday, December 26.
According to community sources, the girl claimed that the man was her husband who died mysteriously in their previous lives, and that over the years, she has been moving from place to place searching for her former husband.
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The source said, “The little bride said if she was not allowed to marry her husband, she would have no other business in Akeddei community, and that she was going to die peacefully. In order to avoid losing the girl, the people of Akeddei decided to organise a glamorous wedding ceremony to mark the union of the two previous life lovers.”
Reacting to the “marriage”, the advocacy group described the marriage as illegal, criminal and child marriage which it said was against the constitution and the Child Rights Act.
Do Foundation, in a statement by its chairperson in Bayelsa State, Elvis Mannie, confirmed the development, insisting that the foundation had launched an investigation into the development with the hope of saving the child.
He stated, “The foundation describes the said child marriage as horrendous and despicable, and 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 noted that the Child’s Right Law was domesticated in 2016 and was still in force in Bayelsa State. “This law criminalises child marriages and child betrothals,” it added.
The foundation called on the government of Bayelsa State, the Gender Response Initiative Team and all stakeholders in the Gender Response system, including security agencies, to launch a thorough investigation into the incident, with a view to protecting the child from sexual exploitation, while seeking the arrest and prosecution of all persons found culpable in this despicable event.
Already, police authorities in the state have said they have launched investigation into the circumstances that led to the marriage.
Police spokesman in Bayelsa State, ASP Musa Mohammed, told Daily Trust that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Alonyenu Francis Idu, has ordered a discreet investigation into the matter.
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