The children, under the aegis of One Child Team, featured in the production of a film entitled: “Yerima, Diary of a Child.”
They demanded an immediate abolition of the section of the Constitution backing the underage marriage failure of which they threatened to embark on an indefinite hunger strike.
The group, which was a volunteer team of children from across the country, demanded an apology from the Senate for deliberating and considering the stamping of early child marriage law in the country, stressing that such had belittled the child rights.
In an interview with journalists, the 13 year old leader of the group, Pascaline Ogbuli, said her group decided to stage the play as a way of lending their voices to the growing opposition to early child marriage in Nigeria.
Ogbuli said the planned indefinite hunger strike was aimed at attracting local, national and international attention to the plight of voiceless Nigerian children who have continually falling victims to the underage marriage in Nigeria.
“We demand a public apology in all the national dailies within the next 10 days, otherwise we shall embark on an indefinite hunger strike to draw local, national and international attention to our plight as voiceless Nigerian children.
“And if we die telling our leaders that our education and our future count more than an early marriage, so be it. To all the leaders who support this barbaric law and to everyone that ought to speak out loud against it but are keeping quiet for fear or for whatever reason, if we die, our blood shall be demanded of you and your generations,” she said.
She added that the Senate had disappointed the children’s generation who looked up to them as role model.
Source: National Mirror
