THE Minister of Women Affairs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye and the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly Abdulmalik Sarkindaji have agreed to collaborate on the empowerment of 100 girls orphaned by terrorism in the state.
The girls were earlier scheduled to be married off in a mass wedding ceremony to be sponsored by the Speaker.
The ministry’s head, press and public relations Grace Njoku who spoke with The ICIR on Friday, May 17, 2024, said Sarkindaji and the Emir of Kotangora visited the minister and they agreed to collaborate on how best to empower the girls.
She said this was contrary to reports that the minister withdrew the suit filed against the Speaker over the planned marriage.
“Even though the suit is there, that is not her emphasis now. The emphasis is that those people from the other angle are standing with her. So it is a collaboration to help those girls, even some outside the 100, in that same local government.
“The marriage will not go on immediately. When they sit and discuss and see the girls, hear from them, then they will know those that are interested in marriage, those that want to go to school. Then a better arrangement will come out,” she said.
Sarkindaji announced plans to marry off the 100 orphans as part of his empowerment project on Friday, May 10, a move that was met with stiff resistance by the minister.
The orphans whose ages were not disclosed were said to have lost their parents to banditry in the Mariga Local Government Area of the state.
Ohanenye immediately filed a petition with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun and sought a court injunction to halt the marriage plan.
Sarkindaji kicked back, accusing the Minister of overstepping her bounds. He eventually backtracked and suspended the marriage.
However, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) released a statement on Thursday, May 16, 2024, urging the minister to let the ceremony go on as planned.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.