Marriage of 4-year-old girl to save her life, says father

Marriage of 4-year-old girl to save her life, says father

The “marriage” between a four-year-old ‘bride’ and a 54-year-old man in a Bayelsa community is a traditional rite to save the child’s life, according to her parents.

They claimed that the marriage, conducted in Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa, was a spiritual rite to ‘untie’ the duo who were betrothed in their “previous lives”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the girl’s parents, the 54-year-old man, a traditional ruler and others, who participated in the marriage, were summoned by Bayelsa Government following a public outcry.

Parents of the ‘bride’ and three others on Thursday appeared before the state government’s Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT) to explain their roles in the child marriage.

The government’s team comprised the Chairman of GRIT, Dr Dise Ogbise-Goddy, and the Bayelsa State Coordinator of the Child Protection Network, Kizito Andah.

Others are the Chairman of Bayelsa Non-Governmental Forum, Mr Taritei Boco, and representatives of the DO Foundation, National Human Rights Commission and Civil Society Groups.

The team heard submissions from the father of the toddler, Mr Morris Aboma, the “groom”, Mr Akpos Napoleon, and the Paramount ruler, Chief Moneyman Binabo.

In their separate submissions before the government team, they all insisted that the purported child marriage was a traditional practice termed “Koripamo” aimed to save the little girl’s life.

They explained that it was a cultural practice in Akeddei community, Oyakiri clan, that if a girl child always fell sick, a man would be required to drop a symbolic amount as a token to save the little girl from dying.

The community representatives said that what transpired between the little girl and Napoleon was not a marriage but an Ijaw cultural practice called ” Koripamo”.

They further explained that whenever the traditional rite of “Koripamo” was conducted, the man who paid the token was not required to take the girl as a wife.

“The traditional rite will also not stop the girl from marrying any man of her choice when she grows up to the age of marriage.”

According to the Ijaw tradition, this rite can be done on a boy or girl child.