We did not pass child marriage law - Senators

Following widespread criticism over the supposed passage of child marriage law in Nigeria, the senate has said it has not pass the law but was misunderstood by Nigerians.

Senator Atiku Buguda and Senator Akin Odunsi have claimed that the Nigeria's senate has not passed the child marriage law. They argued that their debate in the Upper chamber was misconstrued by Nigerians.

They noted that the voting on amendment to Section 29 of the Constitution which defined the age when a person comes to a full age, with an addition spelling out that a woman who is married is deemed to be of full age does not mean the passage of child marriage law.

Senator Buguda said, “The argument that brought about this furore is the renunciation of citizenship. There was an attempt to remove its second element which relates to a woman who is married and that failed. It is a total misrepresentation that the Senate has approved child marriage. Marriage is regulated by the Marriage Act, Islamic laws and Customary Law. What you find missing in these laws is the absence of the definition of the age of marriage. Around the world, marriage below the age of 18 is allowed. I am not saying that it is right, but it is allowed. We were not debating child marriage, and that is not what we contemplated”.

Senator Akin Odunsi, (Ogun West) added that the Senate could not raise the number of votes needed to delete the section.

The lawmaker noted that public reaction tended to indicate that the Senate inserted the clause into the Constitution.

He insisted that it was wrong to say that the Senate passed a law on child marriage.

Boko Haram has killed more than 400 Immigration Officers

Radical sect, Boko Haram has killed no fewer than 400 officers and men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Senator Atiku Bagudu, has said that activities by insurgents in the Northern part of the country has claimed more than 400 officers of NIS, especially during jail breaks in the country.

He said the figures were given to members of his committee when they went on oversight function.

He called for the use of technology and provision of more arms for NIS officers to help stop the activities of Boko Haram and address the challenges of the country’s Northeast borders.

“We need to give more arms to the prison service. The prison service should not be considered a secondary arm of the security system, it is a major one,” he said.

Bagudu said the country’s border with Cameroon has always posed a problem.

 “Chadians coming to the northeast are always armed and use firearms, because Chad had been at war. Fencing four thousand miles border will be very difficult. Technology has changed the way we monitor the borders, with increased use of technology and more personnel, we can achieve more with less spending. We are members of the ECOWAS group of nations. We are committed to free entry and exit. Even if we seal our borders, we can’t stop ECOWAS members from coming into our country.”