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Niger-speaker

Niger Speaker, Sarkindaji

Niger Assembly Speaker bows to pressure, halts plans to marry off 100 female orphans

At last common sense has prevailed. The wedding for 100 orphan girls, scheduled to take place at the constituency of the Niger State Assembly Speaker, Abdulamlik Sarkindaji, has been called off.

 

 

Sarkindaji announced a plan last week to marry off 100 girls orphaned by the activities of bandits and terrorists.

 

Netizens lampooned the Speaker and expressed fear that some of the would-be husbands could be the bandits who put them in the situation they are currently in.

 

Also, Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Ohannaya, took legal action against the speaker, which forced him to halt the wedding.

 

At a press briefing on Tuesday, the speaker announced a halt of the wedding, although he questioned the right of the Minister to interfere with the decision, saying she went beyond her jurisdiction.

 

He also added that the minister should bear the cost of the wedding ceremony.

 

The Speaker announced last week that he would be paying the dowries for bridegrooms who would be marrying off 100 girls displaced by bandits.

 

He assured them that their comfort in their matrimonial homes had been arranged, just as it would be for any other child marrying according to Islamic traditions.