The Egyptian child married last month in Abuja by Senator and former governor of Zamfara
State, Ahmed Yerima is the 14-year-old daughter of M Eladly, his driver
in Cairo, Egypt.
Marim Maged M.
Eladly was brought into Nigeria alongside 32 members of her family for
the marriage to the 50-year-old Mr. Yerima because he could not marry
her in Egypt, as it is against Egyptian law for a man to marry a girl
who is under 18 years old.
A United Nations
official who was recently in Egypt told NEXT on condition of anonymity
that the Nigerian Senator literally induced the poor family of the
child to give her away to him.
Mr. Yerima had
loudly protested that the age of his new bride was not the much-talked
about 13, although he did not state the age of the girl.
“She is the
daughter of Yerima’s driver in Cairo – exploiting further their
vulnerability due to poverty,” the source wrote. “I couldn’t verify the
payment of $100,000 (to the bride’s family), although some money may
have been paid.
But, in this case,
there is no broker involved, unlike similar marriages of minors to
foreign men where the broker gets all the money and the victim and
their family a pittance.
Some people who
attended the marriage ceremony at the Central Mosque, Abuja, said Mr.
Yerima personally admitted to paying the said sum.
“The marriage took
place in Nigeria and there was no marriage in Egypt, as Egyptian law is
clearly against underage marriage of girls under 18 years of age.
Although,
unofficially through what is called “urfi marriage” or
seasonal/temporary marriage, such marriage to minors continues to
exist, particularly by older men from the Gulf States who come to Egypt
for such purposes,” the source said.
“Furthermore,
Egyptian law also forbids marriage where the man is more than 25 years
older than the woman, as is in this case. A Saudi Arabian man over 70
who married a girl under 20 years was prosecuted based on this law.”
Human rights petition
The National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) had, Monday, forwarded letters to the United
Kingdom as well as all embassies to revoke Mr. Yerima’s visas. The
commission has also decided to re-draft and send another letter to the
Egyptian embassy, following what they called new discoveries.
Miss Eladly, who
entered Nigeria with a tourist visa, has returned to Egypt to continue
her education after what sources said was a consummation of her
marriage. She might, however, not be able to have her visa renewed, as
human rights groups also said letters would be sent out to the
immigrations office to demand such.