Whose right has Yerima abused?

But the case NAPTIP is pursuing against Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima is a deviation from what is normal and is in bad blood. If it must continue to be seen by Nigerians and its international publics and donors, NAPTIP should not allow itself to be drawn into politics or politics motivated cases again. It is […]

But the case NAPTIP is pursuing against Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima is a deviation from what is normal and is in bad blood. If it must continue to be seen by Nigerians and its international publics and donors, NAPTIP should not allow itself to be drawn into politics or politics motivated cases again.

It is most surprising and even shocking that what must have been a passing remark by one of the guests who attended the celebration of the marriage of Sani Yerima to an Egyptian woman, lady or girl said to be 13 years old has become a subject for both national and international discussants and audience who are debating it on the internet and elsewhere.

Yerima’s marriage became a subject of controversy following the manner in which first, NAPTIP and later the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) handled the matter. The two agencies are saying that the marriage was in breach of Section 21 of the Child Rights Act of 2003 and therefore, an abuse of human rights for which Yerima should be prosecuted.

But whose rights did Yerima trample upon? Is it the rights of the young Egyptian woman or that of her parents, that of Egyptian government, Nigeria or of Nigerian people? And what would NAPTIP and NHRC be prosecuting the former governor for? Are they seeking   the dissolution of the marriage or he should be sent to jail for what crime?

When he appeared before the National Human Rights Commission some days ago on the invitation of the organisation, Yerima was reported to have stated that he married his Egyptian wife in accordance with Islamic laws and customs and that all due processes were observed and followed in the proceedings.

In his explanations, he said that he obtained the consent of both the woman and her parents or guardians, paid the required dowry before the celebration of the marriage which he said met all the laid-down rules and regulations in Islamic marriage universally. Have NAPTIP and the National Human Rights Commission found Yerima’s claims to be false?

Apart from Yerima himself, many organisations and groups have risen in defence of the senator and with outright condemnation of the actions of both NAPTIP and NHRC which they say are disparaging the former governor and his new bride and subjecting them to public ridicule both at home and abroad.

According to the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN) Yerima’s marriage met all the requirements of Islamic law. The organisation said that Islamic law requires that a woman should not be less than nine years before she gets married and that at 13, Yerima’s wife was more than qualified to marry.

In the first place, there is nothing wrong for an agency like NAPTIP or NHRC to invite someone, anyone for that matter, for questioning if there is a report of wrongdoing on the part of that individual. In such cases, however, the minimum requirement expected is for the agency to treat such an invitation with the highest level of confidence so that it can carry out its investigations thoroughly without interference and to ensure that the rights of the accused are not unduly abused through exposure to the public in case the allegation turns out to be without substance.

In the case of Yerima’s marriage, one had expected that NAPTIP and or NHRC would send their officers to Egypt to see the parents or guardian of the woman in question in order to find out if truly they voluntarily gave him their daughter in marriage or not. They could as well seek for ways to see and hear from the young woman herself whether she was forced to marry the former governor or voluntarily agreed to be married to him. Interviews with her close friends back home would have assisted NAPTIP and NHRC to find the condition and state of mind of the woman before and while she was married to the former governor.

From his own version of the case, Yerima is not pretending about his disdain for Child Rights Act which the NHRC is raising its authority from. The former Zamfara State governor has even said that his people rejected the Act when it was tabled before them for consideration while he was in office and that it was on that backdrop that his administration did not adopt it in his state. Yerima and his supporters are therefore, saying that as far as they are concerned, the provisions of the Act are not binding on him and his marriage. In spite of all these, the NHRC is insisting Yerima has a case of abuse of human and child rights to answer and must face prosecution.

Last week, the NHRC said that Yerima’s marriage was celebrated in Abuja where it said the International Charter on the Protection of the Child is applicable and that Yerima has therefore acted against the dictates of that Charter. If Yerima married his new wife in accordance with Islamic rules and regulations on marriage, then he has abused no one and should be allowed the freedom to enjoy and derive happiness from the bosom of a woman whose love and affection he travelled all the long way to Egypt to conquer.

To continue to insist that Yerima has a case to answer as the NHRC stated last week, amounts to an abuse of the rights of a citizen to his freedom and enjoyment by the same organisations that were set up to protect the rights of Nigerians, including that of Senator Yerima. The purpose for which the NHRC was established was primarily to protect the rights of Nigerian people so that they would not be subjected to inhuman treatment and abuse and these protections should not be meant for the poor and the weak only. The so-called rich and influential members of the society are equally entitled.

What is being done to Yerima and his wife is unfair. He has done nothing to deserve the level of abuse and public disdain that are being instigated by the actions of NAPTIP and the NHRC and relevant agencies of government and the public should call for the immediate end of this hostility with a public apology to the former governor and his wife.

Melah is an Abuja-based journalist and public analyst and can be reached through [email protected]