50-year-old man marries 12-yr-old girl as third wife in Benue

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons is on the heels of a 50-year-old farmer and husband of two who just married a 12-year-old as his third wife.

The Makurdi Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs Gloria Bai, on Wednesday, said the victim was married off by her family.

A concerned citizen had earlier posted it o social media that the girl was deceived into the union by her relatives who told her she was going to town to continue her study.

According to Bai, preliminary investigations revealed that she was in the forced marriage for about three months, as the farmer abused her.

She added that the girl was rescued and put into protective custody, adding that the agency was making efforts to arrest the farmer, who was at large.

“We got this report from a concerned citizen and contrary to media reports that NAPTIP was slow and unenthusiastic, we swiftly went into action to search for the address where the girl was and when we got the address, we planned to go first thing in the morning so that we could get both the man and the victim and by 6am, we were there.

“Unfortunately, the rain came and we were able to rescue the girl, but the man had gone out. We are on it and our officers are already on surveillance to get the man.