Maimuna

married at 12 in nigeria

Maimuna lived with her uncle and grew up selling kola nuts. When she was 12, her uncle married her off to a man she had never seen before, a man who was “older than my father. I became his fourth wife.”

In her husband’s house, the wives and children are not allowed to go to any medical facility. So she delivered each of her three children at home with the help of a traditional birth attendant. And, Maimuna says, she is always lonely. “There is nobody to keep me company. My friends don’t come frequently, and all my co-wives are my mother’s age.”

Maimuna thinks that child marriage is ill-advised, and vows her daughter will not marry young. “It must be noted that forced marriage brings about hatred, and once you hate someone you can do any evil act against him. I cannot give my daughter out for marriage at 12. I will educate my children, provided I have the means. Thank God I have two boys and [only] one girl.”