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Katsina’s child law sets adult age at 18, but says those younger can marry
Premium Times ^ | 12/05/2020 | Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu

Posted on 12/09/2020 5:00:12 AM PST by xomething

The Katsina State House of Assembly has passed a bill to protect children from abuse, but says the legislation will not regulate the age of marriage.

The decision means although the Child Right Protection Bill defines a child as a person below the age of 18, people who should by that definition be considered underage can still marry.

In what appears a contradiction, the sponsors of the bill say it is meant to guarantee children’s right to education and check underage marriage, cruelty and sexual assault against children.

The House Committee chairman on the Child Protection Bill, Musa Nuhu, while presenting the recommendations of the committee before his colleagues on Wednesday, urged the immediate passage of the bill to end the prevalence of child rape, child labour and forced and underage marriage in the state.

According to a United Nations survey, 43 per cent of Nigerian girls are married before they are 18. The problem of early marriage is particularly endemic in the North East and North West regions.

With more than 80 per cent of its girls married off before their 18th birthday, Katsina State has one of the highest prevalence of child marriage and street children (Almajiri) in the country.

The Act covers key aspects of the lives of children and adolescents. It is divided into survival rights, development rights, participation rights, and protection rights.

The first article of the bill, which awaits the assent of the governor to become law, gives the Sharia law supremacy over the child protection law. It says the Sharia will take precedence if any matter in the new law concerning a Muslim child goes against the religious law. Islam is the predominant religion in Katsina.

On marriage, it argues that a child’s maturity goes beyond the idea of puberty. The bill, however, says there should be counselling by parents to evaluate the development of their children before marrying them off.


TOPICS: Current Events; Islam
KEYWORDS: islam; nigeria

1 posted on 12/09/2020 5:00:12 AM PST by xomething
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To: xomething

>>the sponsors of the bill say it is meant to guarantee children’s right to education and check underage marriage, cruelty and sexual assault against children.

Meanwhile in this country we have 5 year olds being indoctrinated into sex change hormonal treatment, surgery, and homofascist predatory lifestyles.


2 posted on 12/09/2020 5:11:38 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Who built the cages, Joe?)
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To: xomething

We also have an antiabstinence agenda in our schools and healthcare providers. It seems to me that teaching minors to be sexually active and promiscuous is at least as unhealthy as seeing a couple get married at 15 or 17.

by the way, what is the median age of marriage in these countries and what is their rate of divorce?


3 posted on 12/09/2020 5:14:07 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Who built the cages, Joe?)
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To: xomething

When they start prosecuting men who father children with underage girls and then take them to the local abortion mill, only then will I be impressed.


4 posted on 12/09/2020 5:20:06 AM PST by Quality_Not_Quantity (Eddie Ate Dynamite. Good Bye Eddie. Who can explain this mystery?)
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To: a fool in paradise

I thought it said ‘Kansas’ - my bad. Comment still applies.


5 posted on 12/09/2020 5:21:13 AM PST by Quality_Not_Quantity (Eddie Ate Dynamite. Good Bye Eddie. Who can explain this mystery?)
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To: Quality_Not_Quantity

Where the f*** is Katsina?


6 posted on 12/09/2020 6:07:22 AM PST by elcid1970 ("Pres. Trump doesn't wear glasses. That's because he's got 2020.")
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To: elcid1970

A state in Northern Nigeria, as I’ve just learned.


7 posted on 12/09/2020 7:04:44 AM PST by Quality_Not_Quantity (Eddie Ate Dynamite. Good Bye Eddie. Who can explain this mystery?)
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