Family & Children's Rights
Parents Arrange Child Marriage for a 15-Year-Old
When family authority and cultural tradition are used to justify marrying off a minor
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10 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“She is old enough and he is a good man who will provide for her. This is our culture and our family decision.”
A 15-year-old girl's parents have accepted a bride price and arranged for her to be married to a 34-year-old man. The arrangement is celebrated within the community and framed as an act of parental care — securing the girl's future with a financially stable husband. Neighbours, teachers, or community members who object are told the decision belongs to the family alone. In many parts of Nigeria, this scenario plays out routinely, particularly in rural areas, and is supported by appeals to cultural tradition and the family's right to determine the girl's future. The girl herself may be reluctant to speak against her parents. However, Nigerian statute law is unequivocal: this is a criminal act, regardless of community norms.
The Fallacy
Cultural Authority Overrides Statute
The argument that family decision-making and cultural tradition justify child marriage is a fundamental legal error. Nigerian statute law — passed by the National Assembly — supersedes customary practice where the two conflict, particularly on matters that criminalise harm to children. Parental authority is not absolute: it ends where criminal law begins. The fact that a practice is culturally widespread, or that the community approves, does not make it legal. Furthermore, the framing of the marriage as being in the girl's best interest obscures the harm: research and law alike recognise that child marriage deprives girls of education, exposes them to maternal health risks, and constitutes a form of gender-based violence.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Child Rights Act 2003 (CRA), No. 26 of 2003
Section 21 — Prohibition of Child Marriage
“No person shall marry a child, and a marriage so contracted is void and of no effect whatsoever.”
Section 21 of the CRA sets the minimum age for marriage at 18 years — the definition of a 'child' under Section 277 of the same Act. Marrying a 15-year-old is therefore void by operation of law and constitutes a criminal offence. The CRA has been domesticated by most southern states and the FCT; in states that have not yet passed the Act, the federal statute still provides a floor of protection applicable in federal courts.
Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 (VAPP), No. 7 of 2015
Sections 20–23 — Forced Marriage and Child Marriage Offences
“Section 20: A person who takes a child out of the custody of parents or guardian for the purpose of marriage commits an offence. Section 23: Any person who engages in child marriage or betrothal commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not less than five years or a fine not less than one million naira or both.”
The VAPP — enacted as federal legislation applicable across all 36 states and the FCT — explicitly criminalises child marriage and betrothal. Unlike the CRA, the VAPP does not depend on state domestication for its operation. This means that even in states that argue the CRA does not bind them, VAPP s.23 provides an independent criminal prohibition on this marriage.
Child Rights Act 2003, No. 26 of 2003
Section 277 — Definition of a Child
“In this Act, 'child' means a person under the age of eighteen years.”
This definition anchors both the marriage prohibition in s.21 and all other protections in the CRA to anyone under 18. A 15-year-old falls squarely within this definition, and any attempt to argue that she has reached 'customary' or 'religious' majority is legally irrelevant to the Act's operation. It is also worth noting that Constitution s.29(4)(b) has been used by some to argue that a woman of any age who is married is of full age — however, this interpretation has been contested and does not override a specific criminal prohibition in the CRA or VAPP.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
1 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
Paul's distinction between childhood and adulthood reflects a moral reality that societies across history have recognised: children are not yet equipped to bear adult responsibilities or make binding life decisions. Placing adult burdens — marriage, sexual life, pregnancy — on a 15-year-old contradicts this understanding of human development. Protecting her childhood is not a rejection of tradition; it is an acknowledgment that she deserves the time to grow into the person she is meant to become.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
This verse speaks of a future that is open and full of possibility — a future that child marriage forecloses. When a girl is removed from school and placed into marriage at 15, she loses access to education, economic independence, and the full range of choices that make a life flourishing rather than merely survivable. Advocating against child marriage is an act of protecting that future.
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What They'll Say Next
Common Counter-Arguments
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They might say: “Our state hasn't passed the Child Rights Act — federal law doesn't apply here.”
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They might say: “Under our religion, she is an adult — Islamic law permits this marriage.”
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