A report by the Nigerian organization BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights (BAOBAB), entitled Women's Access to Justice and Personal Security in Nigeria: A Synthesis Report states that young girls are "frequently" married to "much" older men because customary laws permit marriage by the time they reach puberty, which is considered to be 12 years of age for girls (2002, 8). The report also notes that there is no minimum age for marriage under Muslim law (BAOBAB 2002, 8). However, in the predominately Muslim states of northern Nigeria, the Penal Code stipulates that children under the age of 14 cannot consent to sexual acts, while in the south, sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 is a crime (ibid.). The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) claims that in the northern state of Kebbi, the average age of marriage for girls is approximately 11 years (2001, 4).

In eastern Nigeria, statutory law sets 16 years as the minimum age for marriage, and the punishment for marrying girls that are younger is a fine or six months imprisonment (BAOBAB 2002, 14). The BAOBAB report also notes that under statutory law parental consent for marriage is required for individuals under the age of 21 (ibid., 8).

The 2001 publication entitled Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives by The Centre for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP) provides the following information regarding protection available to minors and adolescents:

In its National Medium Term Action Plan for the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, Nigeria lists raising the minimum age for marriage as one of the critical areas of concern in its policy towards the girl-child. No federal legislation addresses the issue of early marriage.

Several state-level efforts have been made to raise the age of marriage. Cross River State passed the Girl-Child Marriages and Female Circumcision (Prohibition) Law, which makes it illegal for girls under the age of 18 to marry. Parents in Cross River State who force their daughter to marry are liable to a fine or imprisonment upon a first offense, and to a mandatory jail term for a second offense. Edo State has also raised the age of marriage from 16 to 18 years.

Bauchi State passed the Prohibition of Withdrawal of Girls from School for Marriage Act, but its lax enforcement is apparent from the unabated level of child marriages. There is a need for federal legislation banning early and forced marriages, since child marriages have also been found to occur in eastern Nigeria. Such a national-level law is also necessary to institute a strict enforcement procedure for the investigation and prosecution of offenders (2001, 86).

The report also claims that the government has "failed to speak out against traditional practices that lead to sexual abuse of adolescents, including forced marriages and [the] sale of girls to be married (CRLP 2001, 87).

On 30 October 2002, the lower chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives, voted to reject a child rights bill that would have given legal status to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was ratified by Nigeria in 1991 (IRIN 12 Nov. 2002). The bill, proposed by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, was reportedly rejected because it set 18 years as the minimum age for marriage (ibid.). Members of parliament argued that this age was incompatible with some of Nigeria's religious and cultural traditions (ibid.). However, the same source reported in January 2003 that Nigeria's House of Representatives decided to revisit the bill and to conduct a public hearing to help it decide what is best for the child's well-being (IRIN 31 Jan. 2003).

Although two reports were found of teenage girls mounting legal challenges against their forced marriages, decisions by the courts could not be found among the sources consulted (BBC 7 Sept. 2002; Daily Trust 28 Mar. 2002).

The Nigerian country profile section of the "Final Report on the 8th European Country of Origin Information Seminar" organized by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), states that "early marriage is considered to be a private, domestic matter and the girls cannot expect protection from the police despite legal provisions against child marriages in a number of states (Nov. 2002, 168).

For additional information on the state protection available to minors who face forced marriages, please consult NGA32948.E of 20 October 1999 and NGA32595.E of 2 September 1999.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (ACCORD/UNHCR). November 2002. "Final Report on the 8th European Country of Origin Information Seminar, 28-29 June 2002, Vienna: Nigeria. Country Report." The report is based on presentations by Enrique Restoy, Nigeria Researcher, Amnesty International London, and Heinz Jockers, Institute for African Studies, Hamburg, on 28 June 2002.

BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights (BAOBAB). 2002. Women's Access to Justice and Personal Security in Nigeria: A Synthesis Report. Lagos: BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights.

BBC News. 7 September 2002. "Nigerian Girl Sues Over Forced Marriage." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2242842/stm [Accessed 13 Mar. 2003]

The Centre for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP). 2001. Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives. Anglophone Africa; 2001 Progress Report. New York: The Centre for Reproductive Law and Policy. http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_bo_wowafrica.html [Accessed 14 Mar. 2003]

Daily Trust [Abuja]. 28 March 2002. "Wotclef to Intervene in Forced Marriage Case." http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200203280108.html [Accessed 13 Mar. 2003]

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN). 31 January 2003. "Nigeria: UNICEF Welcomes Revisit of Children's Bill." http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32054 [Accessed 15 Mar. 2003]

_____. 12 November 2002. "IRIN Focus on the Challenge of Enforcing Children's Rights." http://wwww.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/fdb493ec80735f4685256c6f0062bd4a?OpenDocument [Accessed 14 Mar. 2003]

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) [Florence, Italy]. March 2001. Innocenti Research Centre. Innocenti Digest. No. 7. "How Common is Early Marriage?" http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf [Accessed 17 Mar. 2003]

IRB Databases

Unsuccessful attempts to contact the Women's Justice Program.

Women's International Network News (WIN)

Internet sites, including:

AllAfrica.com

Amnesty International (AI)

Centre for Law Enforcement and Education (CLEEN)

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG)

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

United Nations Fund for Population and Development (UNFPD)

Women Living Under Muslim Law (WLUML)

Women's Human Rights Net (WHRN)

World News Connection (WNC)

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