A federal High Court sitting in Minna, Niger State, has granted an injunction seeking the stoppage of the marriage of 100 girls in the state.It would be recalled that the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, and also approached the court praying for the stoppage of the mass wedding, which according to her, violates their basic rights to consent and that they are mostly underage.
Kennedy-Ohanenye, who announced the granting of the injunction during the distribution of the first phase of free 1,000 units of Point of Sales, (POS) machines to some women in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at a pilot scheme of projected distribution of 37,000 units across the 36 states and the FCT, yesterday, in Abuja, said that justice must be allowed to prevail for the orphans.
The minister, while disagreeing with the Niger State House of Assembly Speaker, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, said: “I want to let the Speaker know that this is unacceptable by the government.”
“Because there is something called the Child’s Rights Act and I said it from the onset that it is no more business as usual. “These children must be considered, their future must be considered and the future of the children to come out of their marriage must also be considered,” she said.
