Under-age Marriage: SOGON Slams Yerima, Says Claim Not Scientific

The Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), has slammed Senator Ahmed Yerima over his endorsement of girl-child marriage, saying that his claim is unscientific.


Speaking during a press briefing organized by the association over the weekend, the chairman of SOGON, Dr Fred Achem, said  the fact that a girl develops reproductive organs   from 12 years of age does not make her matured for marriage.

He said various studies have shown that the rate of maternal mortality is almost four to five times higher in under - age pregnancies more than in women above 18 years of age.

“Under age marriage creates optimal conditions for VVF and other major complications of pregnancy and childbirth with scenarios of impaired recovery or poor recovery from such complication, leaving such victims with major scars if they survive, and disposes them to destitution, neglect, and abandonment by husbands who in the name of culture/religion choose to marry and impregnate under-age children”

  Also, the Country Director, Evidence for Action/Mammaye Nigeria, Dr Tunde Segun, stated that people should use science to measure the physiology of a woman instead of culture, saying, “ We live in a modern world so nobody should use culture or tradition to debunk what science has proven.”

 He said that under-age marriage with all the attendant risks of immaturity, socio-cultural impediments to access to health facilities, will worsen the outcome of the spirited efforts being made at various levels of government and by stakeholders, to continually sustain the gains made so far towards the reduction of maternal mortality and morbidity.

 Segun observed that education particularly of the girl-child, plays a fundamental role in the emancipation and empowerment of women, thereby enhancing their performances in their socio-corporate, reproductive and sexual responsibilities.

However, according to the SOGON president, under age marriage is a sure recipe for early truncating of the girl-child education, denying her the resultant privileges for a safer and more efficient reproductive carrier.

He called on the National Assembly to enact a bill that would rightly spell out the age of 18 and over as the age of maturity and consent and marriage.