PARENTS of the four-year-old girl who was married to a 54-year-old man in Bayelsa State on December 26, last year have stated that the exercise was a traditional rite to save the child’s life.
They claimed that the marriage, conducted in Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Council, was a spiritual rite to ‘untie’’ the two, who were betrothed in their ‘previous lives.’
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the girl’s parents, the 54-year-old man, traditional ruler and others, who participated in the marriage, were summoned by Bayelsa Government following a public outcry.
But the parents of the girl and three others, on Thursday, January 4, appeared before the state government’s Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT) to explain their roles in the child marriage.
The government team, comprised Chairman of GRiT, Dr. Dise Ogbise-Goddy; state Coordinator of the Child Protection Network, Kizito Andah;
Chairman of Bayelsa Non-Governmental Forum, Mr. Taritei Boco and representatives of DO Foundation, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and civil society groups.
The team heard submissions from the father of the ‘bride,’ Mr. Morris Aboma, the ‘groom,’ Mr. Akpos Napoleon, and paramount ruler, Chief Moneyman Binabo, who in their separate submissions, all insisted that the purported child marriage was a traditional practice, termed Koripamo, aimed to save the girl’s life.
They explained that it was a cultural practice in Akeddei community in Oyakiri clan that if a girl child always fell sick, a man would be required to drop a symbolic amount as token to save the little girl from dying.
The community representatives said what transpired between the girl and Napoleon was not a marriage, but an Ijaw cultural practice called Koripamo, adding 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.
They further explained that the traditional rite would also not stop the girl from marrying any man of her choice when she grows up to the age of marriage, as according to the Ijaw tradition, this rite could be done on a boy child or girl child.
Father of the child, Aboma, who spoke in Ijaw language, said his daughter was always sick to the point of death and according to Akeddei tradition, the only way to save her life was for a man to pay a symbolic price and save the child’s life, insisting it had nothing to do with a real marriage.
According to the ‘groom,’ the outcry following the rite was regrettable, as all he did was just to save the child’s life, disclosing that she was no longer sick.
He said such tradition had been going on, but had not been elaborately celebrated with fanfare, like the December 26, last year event, which drew widespread reactions and outrage.
“But since she says if I don’t do what she says, she will die, I had to look for money and do it, since it involves life. As it is, I am frustrated by this whole issue,” Napoleon lamented.
The paramount ruler said he heard of a marriage in the community during the festivities, but did not have full details, not until the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Sagbama Police Station asked him to produce those that got married in the community.
Binabo stated that he had to invite to the parents of the girl to get detailed information of what happened on the marriage day and the parents told him that the girl had been sick and one Napoleon had to drop a symbolic amount.
He emphasised that what happened in Akeddei community was not a formal marriage, but a fulfillment of a cultural practice, saying what surprised him was the demand of the girl for an elaborate ceremony involving foods, canopy and a sound system be hired to celebrate the marriage.
The paramount ruler stressed that the man who paid the token on the girl was not expected to take her home to live as husband and wife or stop the girl from marrying any other person of her choice when she is old enough to marry.
On their parts, Andah and Boco said from the submission of the parents of the girl, the ‘husband’ and the paramount ruler of Akeddei community, what happened was not a formal marriage, but a cultural practice, known as Koripamo.
They noted that from the information gathered, the girl had not been sexually abused, as confirmed by Dr. James Omietimi at GRIT office, and that the child was living a normal life with no relationship with the 54-year-old alleged husband.
Immediately after the meeting, Chairman of GRIT, Ogbise-Goddy, said the deliberation was frank and fruitful, promising to give further update on the matter.
She said the Bayelsa State Ministry of Women Affairs, Children and Social Development and all stakeholders would review the situation and take a decision, adding: “Like I had stated earlier, the Bayelsa State Government is child-friendly and will do anything to protect all the children of the state from any form of perceived abuse.”
