In March 2021, Nigeria announced it would be setting up specialized courts and judicial divisions to deal with sexual violence, particularly that committed by extremists.
These factors may also give some indication as to why the kidnapping and forced marriage of minors occurs in the community ― although it infracts the country’s criminal law. Even when girls are liberated, there have been delays in the judicial process. In 2015, 13-year-old Christian girl Ese Rita Oruru was abducted by Yunusa Dahiru, who forced her to convert to Islam and marry him. She was rescued the following year, by which time she was pregnant. Dahiru was arrested, but the case was not heard until 2020. He was convicted. 102 In March 2021, Nigeria announced it would be setting up specialized courts and judicial divisions to deal with sexual violence, particularly that committed by extremists. 103
extremists who took her. 98 Secondly, the sexual abuse of women can have a “punitive dimension,” as seen in the systematic rape of female students during the 2013 attack on university accommodation in Maiduguri. 99 However, the forced abduction and marriage of girls by extremists should be contextualized within broader trends within Nigeria, including discrimination against indigenous Christian communities in at least 16 out of the 19 northern states 100 and Nigeria’s high rates of child marriage. Tribal, cultural and religious norms, including traditional Shari‘a interpretations, protect child marriage ― and although the federal Child Rights Act bans marriage or betrothal for those under 18 years of age, at the time of writing it has not been enacted in 11 of Nigeria’s 36 states where state or other law takes precedence. 101
| 27
Powered by FlippingBook