A Nigerian man who felt horrified by the increasing number of child brides in the Northern part of the country and the danger it portends has called for an end to the practice.

Child marriage is a common practice among the northerners who believe it is supported by their religion.

Over the years there have been a series of advocacy against the practice, however, those who firmly believe in the practice see advocacy against it as an attack on Islam.

The man identified as Umar Ibrahim took to Twitter to condemn the practice and said it does not have any root in Islam as being claimed by the practitioners.

An angered Ibrahim noted that his post was prompted by his recent experience at a hospital where he saw a girl child struggling to take care of a baby, he became appalled when he found out the child was the mother of the baby.

He urged his fellow Northerners to rise to the condemnation and stoppage of the practice which according to him is endangering the lives of the young girls.

Umar Ibrahim tweeted:

“I want to go on my knees and beg Arewa Leaders and Mallams, please start speaking against child marriages. It is painful and heart wrenching to see a child struggling to back a baby, and when I asked I was told its her baby. I was shivering in anger while sharing the gift money.

“I asked and was told it’s normal sight at the hospital. This isn’t Islam! This is your culture and it is barbaric. I’d rather not marry than marry a child. I make bold to say if you have a sister being married off at below 16 please runaway with her.

“Those predators will marry her, divorce her with pregnancy and she’d end up being that which you think you want to prevent her from being. We have them all around already.”

Child marriage has ancient cultural, religious and economic ties in northern Nigeria. It is believed that girls who marry after the age of 18 can become promiscuous, while other families give out their daughters to ‘escape poverty’.

According to a 2017 report by UNICEF, 43% of Nigerian girls are married off before the age of 18, while 17% are married before they turn 15. The report also rated Nigeria as the 11th nation in the world with the highest number of child marriages.

 

See his tweet:

I want to go on my knees and beg Arewa Leaders and Mallams, please start speaking against child marriages. It is painful and heart wrenching to see a child struggling to back a baby, and when I asked I was told its her baby. I was shivering in anger while sharing the gift money.

— umar ibrahim (@imp213x) May 15, 2019