Piqued by the resolution of the Nigeria’s Upper Chamber to amend Section 29 (4) (b) of the 1999 constitution, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, on Tuesday threatened to lead mass protest to the Senate.
Under the provision of the Section, underage girls are considered to be adults and the issue is now generating serious national debate.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, CAN President also dismissed fomer Zamfara governor, Ahmed Sani Yerima’s argument that deleting the section would contravene Islamic law.
The argument, Oritesejafor noted “presupposes that Nigeria, a secular state, is populated only by Muslims” thus, calling on the Senate to revisit the controversial issue in the interest of all.
“By the grace of God, I will, personally mobilise Nigerians and lead the street protest against this oppressive and dehumanising resolution. Why would the Senate, after voting recoil, simply because of a point of order premised on religious basis?
“We, Christians, also have Canon Law, which frowns on marriage of girls who are not of age. Christianity abhors such marriages. The protest will be soon.
“Finally, I urge the Yerimas in the Senate to toe the path of the Holy Qur’an, which states that one who kills a person unjustly in effect has killed everyone and one who saves another has saved everyone. They should save these girls and Nigerians the agony of having their children married off at ages below 18 by unfavourable legislations.”
“If now Yerima is commenting on a case in which he has interest, it can only mean the action of a man frenziedly trying to get himself out of the hook through some undeserved legislations. I appeal to those individuals who have been educated along this line in the Senate not to use their rights as lawmakers to harm children below the age of 18, but to choose the interest of these children above their own.
“These girls should be allowed to develop, individually because this resolution, if implemented, would hound girls below 18 years into marriages they know nothing about. This is only one dimension of this tragic resolution.
“I feel that when individuals attain a certain way of thinking and understanding and reach certain status in life, they should be able to comprehend that it is necessary to adhere to conventions in line with best practices the world over and not harm other members of society, no matter their ages within the same society,” the statement reads.
It will be recalled that when Yerima was the governor of Zamfara, north-west Nigeria, he introduced ‘Sharia law’ that generated controversy. But, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo doused tension in the country when he described it as ‘political Sharia’ that won’t stand the test of time.
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