Bayelsa: Reason We Married Our Four-Year-Old Child To 54-Year-Old Man — Parents

The parents of the four-year-old girl who married a 54-year-old man in Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa, said the marriage is a traditional rite to save the child’s life.

The parents who appeared before the state government’s Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT), which included Dr. Dise Ogbise-Goddy and Kizito Andah, noted that the marriage was a spiritual ceremony aimed at breaking a supposed betrothal from their “previous lives.”

The ceremony, termed “Koripamo,” according to them was a cultural practice in Akeddei community to save a girl child’s life if she frequently fell ill.

They maintained that it was just a traditional practice involving a symbolic payment to prevent the child from dying and not a formal marriage.

Explaining their roles in the marriage, the community representatives clarified that the man who paid the symbolic token was not obliged to take the girl as his wife, and the ritual wouldn’t prevent the girl from marrying anyone of her choice in the future.

“Koripamo” according to them could be performed on both boys and girls according to Ijaw tradition.

The father of the child, Mr. Morris Aboma, explained in the Ijaw language that his daughter was always on the verge of death due to illness.

He said according to Akeddei tradition, the only way to save her life was for a man to make a symbolic payment, emphasizing that it had nothing to do with an actual marriage.

The “groom,” Mr Akpos Napoleon, expressed regret over the public outcry, asserting that he participated only to save the child’s life, and the tradition had been ongoing without previous elaborate celebrations.

Napoleon lamented, “But since she says if I don’t do what she says she will die, I had to look for money and do it since it involves life; as it is, I am frustrated by this whole issue.”

The representatives from the Gender Response Initiative Team also
confirmed that the event was not a formal marriage but a cultural practice.

They added that a medical professional at the GRIT office affirmed the child had not been sexually abused.

“Like I had stated earlier, the Bayelsa State Government is child-friendly and will do anything to protect all the children of the state from any form of perceived abuse.”