A 4-year-old girl has been married out to an old man for both spiritual and traditional reasons in Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.
Parents of a very young female child who was married to a 54-year-old man in Bayelsa State have defended their action.
According to them, the marriage was contracted to save the life of the child as demanded by the traditional rite of the community.
The marriage conducted in the Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa state was a spiritual ceremony aimed at breaking a supposed betrothal from her past life before the reincarnation.
The 4-year-old girl’s parents and the traditional ruler with other culprits were, however, summoned by the Bayelsa State government. The government’s involvement was in response to the protest by the people who demanded the arrest of those behind the dastardly acts.
The Chairman of the State Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT), Dr Dise Ogbise-Goddy, and his Deputy, Kizito Andah, interrogated the parents and other major actors in the acts to explain their roles in the alleged child marriage.
They explained that the ceremony, termed “Koripamo,” was a cultural practice in the Akeddei community to save a girl child’s life, if she frequently fell ill.
They disclosed that it was not a formal marriage but a traditional practice involving a symbolic payment to prevent the child from dying.
The traditional representative of the community who was also queried claimed that the man who paid the money was not obliged to take the girl as his wife, adding that the ritual wouldn’t prevent the girl from marrying anyone of her choice in the future.
They stated that “Koripamo” could be performed on both boys and girls according to Ijaw tradition.
The visibly troubled father of the child, Mr Morris Aboma, in his own part, explained in the Ijaw language that his daughter was always on the verge of death due to illness.
He said by the Akeddei tradition, the only way to save her life was for a man to make a symbolic payment, emphasizing that it had nothing to do with an actual marriage.
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The adult groom, Mr Akpos Napoleon, regretted the public outcry that greeted the marriage, stressing that he participated only to save the child’s life, adding that the tradition had been ongoing without previous elaborate celebrations.
Napoleon lamented, “But since they say if I don’t do what she needed according to the tradition 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.”
The GRIT chairman, Dr Ogbise-Goddy, assured the people of the state of further investigation into the matter, noting that if they are found guilty of the abuse, the law will take its cause.
