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Summary: In April this year, Nigeria's Senate ordered an investigation into reports that one of its members had married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl. Four months later, Nigeria's anti-human trafficking agency reported it lacked enough evidence to criminally charge the senator.
[ABUJA, Nigeria, 5th July 2010 (AP)] -- Nigeria's anti-human trafficking agency says it lacks enough evidence to criminally charge a senator who allegedly took a child bride. In a statement Monday, the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters said it had concluded its investigation against Sen. Ahmad Sani Yerima. The agency said Yerima may have violated the nation's child rights laws, though Nigeria's attorney general has to file that criminal case against him. The 49-year-old senator allegedly married the 13-year-old Egyptian daughter of his driver earlier this year after paying a $100,000 dowry. Yerima's alleged marriage has sparked fierce controversy between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, a nation of 150 million split almost in half by the two faiths. To read more about the Senate's initial investigation, click here For further news and information on children's rights in Nigeria, click here