The police in Lagos have arrested a 37-year-old man, Michael Ugwu,in yet another case of child marriage, for taking a 12-year-old orphan, identified simply as Nneka (not real name) as a wife. She was given out in marriage by her grandfather, identified as Abada, a native doctor in Enugu State.
The girl and Ugwu, who claims to work as a police SPY official at a federal ministry in Lagos, both hail from Aji in Enugu Ezike town, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.
A police source hinted that Ugwu, had gone to the Ipaja Police Division, Lagos to report that “his wife” ran away from home and had since been missing, but that it was until they found the girl, through the help of one of his neighbors, that they knew he actually got married to a minor.
Ugwu was then detained.
“He came and reported that his wife absconded and that he even took a loan from a bank to marry her. He even sounded drunk when he came to the station. When we saw the minor he called wife, we had to detain him to get more information, because a 12-year-old girl is not ripe for marriage, so we had to ask him more questions,” the source said.
Ugwu told Punch correspondent that the girl’s grandfather willingly gave her out to him in marriage at their hometown in Enugu State. He added that there was a traditional marriage to that effect on January 20, 2016 in the village, attended by about 50 persons, including community elders, the girl’s grandfather and other villagers.
He noted he never saw anything wrong with taking the girl as a wife because there were elders at the event and they gave their blessings to the union, adding that the girl’s grandfather, who also happened to be his old time friend, had assured him that the girl was “not a small girl.”
Clearing his throat intermittently, his account of the story was like listening to a thriller. He explained that he had been under pressure from his family members to get married, and when he visited the village earlier in the year, he and Abada, whom he described as a retired Biafran soldier, went to have a drink.Ugwu said he paid the bills and told his friend he needed a woman to marry.
He continued,
“Abada was happy I paid for his drinks, and he assured me he would introduce me to a girl. He said I might not be able to take care of a woman he wanted to give me but that he had another one for me. The following morning, I visited him with a friend of mine.
“He asked for N500 and I gave him. Around 10pm, he brought a girl to my house. I was about sleeping then. He said the girl he brought for me is his child and that he would want me to marry from their place. I asked if the girl is up to the right age, he said yes; that she was not a small girl. He said he needed to give the girl out in marriage so that she would not get unwanted pregnancy. I said okay.
“He brought the girl again the following morning. He asked that I shook hands with the girl and I did. He said I should not joke with the offer because someone else had even shown interest in the girl but that he wanted me to marry her. He said I should come with one carton each of beer and malt to ‘knock the door’ as the tradition demands. We call it ‘Omenala’. He gave me the list of items to buy for the introduction.”
Ugwu told our correspondent in company with the director of Esther Child Rights Foundation, Esther Ogwu, that due to the number of things he had to buy and the money for the dowry, he took a loan of N200,000 from his bank.
In his words, “During my first visit, I went with one carton of beer and malt. During my second visit for the introduction, the items I bought, according to the list I was given, included a jar of palm wine worth N30,000, eight cartons of beer worth N16,000, two cartons of malt worth N3,000, amount spent on cooking to entertain the guests cost N11,000, two laps of pig meat worth N6,000, 30 kolanuts worth N2,800, two packets of cigarette worth N400 and dowry of N33,000. I was there with some of my family members.
“At the event, even though she didn’t give me wine as required traditionally and we didn’t put on same attire, Abada gave her to me and told us to kneel down and he prayed for us. He said he expected us to come back with children. The two times the girl was brought to my house and on the day of the introduction, she wore high heels, which made her look taller and mature.
“At that time, I didn’t see her as too young, and as our elders in the village supported it, I thought it was right. I am a heavy drinker, maybe that is why I was confused and the pressure from my people to get married made me to rush into it. Then, the girl’s grandfather is a herbalist, I don’t know whether he covered my eyes because now I regret my actions.
“I came back to Lagos with the girl in February. I think I was hypnotised for me to have taken that loan because now, my salary is being deducted monthly to pay back the loan.”
Asked whether he had been having sexual relationship with the girl as her husband, he said he had never slept with her, but that he made the attempt twice but he was not successful, as he could not penetrate, so he left her.
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