May 10, 2010
May 11 (GIN) – The marriage of Nigerian Senator Ahmed Yerima to a 13 year old girl he met in Egypt has sparked outrage in the blogosphere and a petition drive denouncing the nuptial. Yerima 'married' the young girl, daughter of his driver, after reportedly paying the family $100,000. He justified his actions in a recent press interview.
May 11 (GIN) – The marriage of Nigerian Senator Ahmed Yerima to a 13 year old girl he met in Egypt has sparked outrage in the blogosphere and a petition drive denouncing the nuptial. Yerima 'married' the young girl, daughter of his driver, after reportedly paying the family $100,000. He justified his actions in a recent press interview.“I am only following Prophet Mohamed’s footsteps who married a nine-year-old girl, Aishatu,” the 50 year old Yerima told journalists following an official visit to the new Nigerian president. “I have not done anything that violates Sharia, so I am not bothered about anything if anybody accuses me and I don’t think I have committed any offence.”
Under Nigeria’s national Child Rights Act of 2003, the legal age for anyone to get married is 18-years-old. Egyptian law also forbids marriage where the man is more than 25 years older than the woman
“He has broken a number of international and national laws protecting children and minors from sexual expliotation and trafficking,” the online petition states. “Your voice, your vote, your signature will keep this issue in the forefront of the media and ensure that the media attention does not die down like he undoutedly expects and hopes that it will.”.
Yomi Kuku on the internet petition “yerimajustice” wrote: “This should not be a Nigerian problem but an insult to humanity to be tackled head on by all.”
<<<Click Here To Sign The Petition>>>
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