By Vera Chinonso Aliyu and Ada Obeleagu, YeyeNews.com, November 21, 2021
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has advised the government of Nigeria on the need to put an end to underage marriages in the country. The Saudi Crown Prince gave the advice at a meeting with President Buhari when the latter visited the kingdom. YeyeNew.com s gathered from a source who traveled with Pres. Buhari that the Saudis expressed concern over the high rate of underage marriages especially in the northern part of the country.
“The crown prince told the president to take drastic measures to put an end to the practice of underage marriages especially for girls. He gave example of the recent marriage of the Accountant General to a sixteen years old girl in Kano and urged the president to consider the amputation of the penis of old men who marry underage girls. When the president tried to argue that Islamic law allows such marriages, the crown prince reminded him that his kingdom is the custodian of the Islamic laws”, the source explained.
A source in the Saudi consulate in Nigeria revealed that the Islamic kingdom is very worried about the growing interest of the northern elites in betrothing underage girls. “This practice is destroying the dreams of these girls and the image of Islam. To curb it requires serious action on the part of authorities. People are afraid to commit crime in Saudi Arabia because they know we won’t hesitate to behead them publicly if caught. So these pedophiles must be treated similarly as an effective deterrent. Anyone seen wooing an underage girl should have his penis amputated in the market place. That is how Nigeria can put a stop to this and guarantee normal life for the girl child”.
But a Senator from Zamfara has argued that the Sharia law allows men to marry a girl of any age. “The Sharia law is superior to any other law in the land. Marrying a girl is an honor to her family no matter her age. Or do they want our girls to be sleeping around with men like their counterparts in other parts of the country? You know that is haram. So we marry them early to preserve their dignity”, the senator told YeyeNews.com reporter.
