My wife is 21 years and not 11 years, Allow us to enjoy our honeymoon – 65-year-old man who reportedly married 11-year old girl says
Nigerian man Aminu Danmaliki, who was rumored to have married a girl of 11, has denied the allegations.
On March 15th, a Twitter account called @TheSabiRadio said that a 61-year-old guy from the North had married an 11-year-old girl.
“Alhaji marries 11-year-old girl in Kano, says they love each other, and she’s his choice,” the handle tweeted.
The purported juvenile marriage was a trending topic on Twitter for several days. Some Nigerians who knew the pair argued that the groom shouldn’t be arrested for child marriage, but others disagreed.
The lawmaker from Bauchi State, Mr. Danmaliki, has, however, refuted the claims.
Mr. Danmaliki has taken to Facebook to refute claims that his bride, identified in the media as 11-year-old Sakina Waziri, is actually his sister. He wrote in the photo’s caption that his new bride was not a minor or coerced into getting married to him.
He wrote: “My recent marriage with Sakina has generated a lot of tension and unfounded allegations that I married an underage girl, some suggesting she is 11 years old and was forced to marry me. “
“That is untrue. The Wedding Video went viral. We decided to keep mute but were advised to state the facts; here it is: My beloved wife is 21 years old. She made her own choice of me as her husband, and I loved her too.”
He further called on “blackmailers and doubting Thomas” to see the reality in the picture and leave them alone to enjoy their honeymoon.
There have been allegations that prominent Nigerians engaged in underage marriages. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former Emir of Kano, was said to be marrying a 17-year-old girl in 2015.
The palace later dismissed the rumor, saying the princess was only 18 at the time and had no plans to marry until she finished school.
Human Rights Watch reports that in many of Nigeria’s Sharia-legislated states, child marriage is excused on religious and traditional grounds, with puberty serving as the defining age of adulthood.
However, in accordance with the Child Rights Act of 2003, the minimum age for marriage in Nigeria has been raised to eighteen.
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