Court Stops Cleric From Marrying 16-Year-Old Girl In Ondo

A family court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has stopped an Islamic cleric, Yusuf Lateef, from forcefuĺly marrying a 16-year-old girl as his ninth wife.

According to reports, the defendant alongside the Girl parents had fixed a date for the wedding in 2019 after so much pressure when the Girl was only 15 years.

AllNews gathered that after discovering that the defendant was unrelentless in the quest, she through the help of her brother fleed from her home in Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State and reported to the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development where she was sheltered for some days after which the agency took up the matter by charging her parents and the defendant to court in Akure.

The defendant was charged on the count of breaching part three of the 2007 Ondo State Child Rights Law.

Delivering judgement, Magistrate Aderemi Adegoroye who ruled over the case said the girl should be returned back to her parent while Lateef has been ordered to stop the marriage as he is made to sign an undertaking to stay away from her and ensure that she came to no harm.

Reacting to the development, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Titilola Adeyemi said, “We are excited at the way the matter went. It will be a warning to everybody that it is a no to child marriage in Ondo State. Child marriage is denying the girl child her future. We must make sure we work for the girl child to realise her future.”