Group Seeks Protection Of Women, Orphans In Nigeria

A women’s rights advocacy group, Womanifesto, has appealed to the President Bola Tinubu-led government to safeguard the rights of women and children in the country.
The plea is coming on the heels of recent incidents in Niger State where about 100 orphaned children were coerced into marriages.

The women’s group, comprising more than 500 organisations led by activists and professionals, conveyed their message through a letter made available to newsmen.

The correspondence addressed the unlawful actions of marrying off 100 women and girls who had been orphaned as a result of banditry and insecurity in the Maruga local government area of Niger State.

Data from ‘Girls Not Brides’ indicates that 30 percent of girls in Nigeria are wedded before turning 18, with 12 percent being married off before reaching 15 years of age. Findings from a 2021 Save the Children International report revealed that 48 percent of girls in Northern Nigeria are forced into marriage before the age of 18 just a 2022 UNICEF report highlights that over 50 percent of girls in Nigeria are deprived of basic education.

The group expressed concerns over the politicisation of the vulnerability of orphaned girls and widows in Niger State by the speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji.

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The group said: “We have watched how the speaker of the Niger State Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, politicised the vulnerability of orphaned girls and widows in the state under the guise of empowerment, religion or culture. It is worrisome that the speaker, who should act as a custodian of the law, is leading the campaign against women and girls in Niger State.

“Marriage is not a poverty alleviation scheme. While marriage is honourable in our cultures, we would like to emphasise that forced marriages are unacceptable morally, culturally and religiously.”