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The wedding of 100 orphans in Nigeria has been canceled following significant public concern about the welfare of those involved.
The wedding, which was scheduled to take place at the end of this month, was sponsored by Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the national assembly in the predominantly Muslim northwestern state of Niger.
It involved orphaned children who had lost family members during armed gang attacks.
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Critics expressed concerns that some of the girls might be underage or coerced into marriage for financial gain.
However, the Niger Imams Forum stated that the wedding ceremony would proceed on May 24 and emphasized that the girls were not underage.
The age of the girls has not been specified.
Nigeria’s Minister of Women’s Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, condemned the plan and said she would seek a court order to stop the ceremony.
Human rights activists in Nigeria have also launched a petition to halt the plan.
Following the public outcry, Speaker Sarkindaji announced his withdrawal from the event.
Some of the intended brides, who spoke to local media, defended the plan.
Mass weddings are common in many Muslim-majority areas in northern Nigeria, where religious and cultural practices such as polygamy support the initiative.
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