BBC: Nigeria protest over senator's child bride

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8649035.stm

Nigeria protest over senator's child bride

Women's groups in Nigeria are threatening to take legal action against a senator, following reports he married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.

Ahmad Sani Yerima, 49, is reported to have married her at the national mosque in Abuja several weeks ago.

Female senators have promised to table for debate a petition from the groups calling for Mr Sani to be reprimanded.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's human rights commission has begun an investigation into whether the marriage is legal.

The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says Mr Sani is refusing to speak publicly about the matter.

He was the governor of Zamfara state and oversaw the introduction of Sharia law - the first state in the north to do so in 1999.

The petition, handed over to a group of female senators on Tuesday, wants the identity of the child, her age, the circumstances of her entry into Nigeria and the dowry paid to her family to be investigated.

The women's rights groups believe Mr Sani has broken the law, pointing to the Child Rights Act of 2003.

"When you marry them out at this early stage, is it because it is viewed as a commodity that can be easily disposed of and a new one acquired," Nigeria's Punch newspaper quotes Mma Wokocha, the leader of the coalition protesting about the marriage.

Newspaper reports have also accused him of having previously married a 15-year-old girl in 2006.

A spokesman for Nigeria's senate has insisted that the chamber does not comment of the personal affairs of individual members.