Nigerian Lawsuit Claims Ban on Child Marriage Restricts Muslims' Religious Freedom

In Nigeria earlier this month, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) forwarded to the Attorney General for possible prosecution its findings that Ahmed Sani Yerima, former governor of Zamfara state and a member of the Nigerian Senate, violated the Nigerian Child Rights Act of 2003 when he married a 13-year old Egyptian girl after paying a very large dowry. (Next 7/21). Now, according to AFP and ThisDay, the Registered Trustees of Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria has filed suit in the Federal High Court seeking a declaration that Yerima's right to privacy and his right to practice his religion have been violated by NAPTIP's investigation and planned investigations by the National Human Rights Commission and parliament. The suit alleges that the Child Rights Act is unconstitutional because Muslim religious law permits Yerima to marry up to four wives with no restriction on age. The Sharia group's lawyer says that a Muslim may "even marry a child in the womb of her mother."