Paedophiles hide under age-of-marriage law, says Plan

A non-governmental group working to advance children’s rights and equality for girls says a law that sets 18 as age of marriage for girls is ambiguous ad providing “leeway for paedophiles and child abusers who hide under the cover of legality”.

Plan International Nigeria’s country director, Hussaini Abdu, released a statement to the country’s new leaders to be sworn in on May 29 calling on them to clear up ambiguities that do nothing to punish wrongdoers.

In particular, he said, is the provision of the Constitution that sets 18 as age limit for marriage for girls but “in another breath provides that girls automatically become adults once they are married irrespective of their ages at the time of marriage.”

Plan also called on the new Buhari government which effectively begins May 29 to address issues affecting girls and children as a priority and put them on the “front burner”.

“Successive governments have virtually left issue concerning girls on the back seat while the challenges mount,” he said in a statement marking May 29—the day winners in the general elections are sworn into office.

“Across the length and breadth of the country, girls are caught up in one crisis or the other – from forced marriage to being child brides, teenage pregnancy, kidnapping, child labour and rape.”

Up to 22 million child brides live in Nigeria, according to a 2018 report by UNICEF.

“This accounts for 40 percent of child brides in the West Africa sub region. This is unacceptable for our country, Nigeria,” says the Country Director.

“We can do much better than this. It is high time the federal government did much more than rhetoric by taking practical steps to safeguard the Nigerian girl,” Abdu said.

In addition, six in every 10 of the more than 10 million Nigerian children out of school are girls.

“A nation that belittles 50 percent of its population is preparing a doomed future for itself. The government at all levels must prioritise its young population especially girls. We must say no to child bride, we must say no to rape and we must say yes to education of the girl and yes to safety of every child in the country,” Abdu said.