The Bayelsa State Government has invited the parents of a four-year-old girl and the 54-year-old man involved in a purported marriage in Akeddei Community in the Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.
Punch Metro recalles that the alleged marriage attracted backlashes after a viral video or the supposed union surfaced online.
After the video went viral, a child rights advocacy group in Bayelsa, DO Foundation, on Thursday, frowned against the traditional marriage which reportedly held on Boxing Day, December 26..
The foundation, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Yenagoa, described the marriage as illegal, criminal, and a child marriage which is against the constitution and the Child Rights Act.
Following the backlashes, the state government, in a statement by the director in charge of Child Development at the ministry, Mr. Panebi Jacob; chairman of GRIT, Dr. Dise Ogbise-Goddy Harry Esq. and the state human rights commission.
The statement added that the traditional ruler of Akeddei community on Saturday honoured the government’s invitation and promised to produce the child, her parents, the 54-year-old man and the youth leader and the chairman of the Community Development Committee, CDC.
The state government, through the Ministry of Women Affairs, Children and Social Development and the State Gender Response Initiative Team, GRIT, which frowned at the development, also expressed concern over the illegal marriage based on tradition and customs, saying it was repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience.
“That is why the state government did not hesitate to assent to the passage of the Bayelsa State Child Rights Law.
“We are taking steps to rescue the child from all the key actors in relation to this illegal ceremony that they tagged a ‘mere spiritual affair.’
“The law is clear on issues of tradition and customs that are repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience and working with the Bayelsa State police command, we shall ensure incidents like this do not occur in the state again.
“On behalf of the Governor of Bayelsa State, we express our gratitude to all the non-governmental organisations including Fida and DO Foundation that have risen to the rescue of this innocent child. Bayelsa State is children-friendly and this case will be pursued to a logical conclusion,” the statement read.
