Many Nigerians are outraged that a Senator is using Sharia Law to stymie a constitutional amendment, in a move that raises questions about the troubling practice of older men marrying child brides, as well as the role of religion in a nation with many religions.

The Senator, Sani Ahmed Yerima, gained national notoriety a few years ago for marrying a 14-year old Egyptian girl when he was age 49.  And she’s one of his wives.

The bill would have set at 18 the age at which a Nigerian could renounce his or her citizenship.  But Yerima says that defies Sharia.

“By Islamic law any woman that is married, she is of age, so if you now say she is not of age then it means that you are going against Islamic law,” declared Yerima.

After his filibuster, several other Islamic lawmakers changed their votes to “no”.

The reaction has not been positive. 

“Every Nigerian should bow his or her head in shame because instead of crushing the head of the lustful beast that seeks to fornicate with our children, to steal their virtues and to destroy their future, what the Senate did the other day was to compromise with and cater for the filthy appetites and godless fantasies of a bunch of child molesters and sexual predators,” wrote Femi Fani-Kayode, a traditional chief and former Cabinet minister, in a newspaper editorial.

Christian and Womens Rights groups are also weighing in.

The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ayo Oritsejafor said Yerima “presupposes that Nigeria, a secular state, is populated only by Muslims.  Yerima is again, advertently stirring up another controversy about the supremacy of Islamic Law to the Nigerian constitution.”

Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi of the Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN) asks, “Is the Senate saying that a 13 year old girl has the mental capacity to renounce her citizenship?”  She also notes that under Yerima’s version of Sharia, child brides could face adult criminal liability, could vote, and could even run for political office.