Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial district, Sen Odebiyi has decried the endless kidnapping for ransom, rape and all forms of insecurity perpetuated in the Northern part of the country blaming early marriages as one of its major causes.
The Senator identified the inclination of terrorists to underage marriage which is a culture in the north, stating that until underage marriage was stopped, it would continue to give room to procreation amid poverty.
He stated this while contributing to a motion titled: ‘Urgent need to surmount all kinds of kidnappings, banditry and related security challenges in Wasagu-Danko, Sakaba and Yauri Local Government Areas of Kebbi State’, which was sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn’Nallah, representing Kebbi South Senatorial district on Wednesday.
Read Also: Kidnappers Collect ₦2.5m, Cigarettes, Milk As Ransom In Ekiti
While making his contribution, Senator Odebiyi stressed that high scale insecurity in the north would continue to linger due to ‘ad-hoc solution’, by the government, insisting that in tackling insecurity in the north and elsewhere, the solution must be taken deeper.
‘We seem to be very reactive and very adhoc on how we solve problems such as security in this country, but I think we need to go a bit deeper.
‘It is a fertile ground for recruiting bandits, especially when you put that in conjunction with the breakdown of countries around Nigeria in the Sahel and all those areas, it will provide a fertile environment,’ he said.
According to him, ‘when underage marriage takes place in poverty’, the couple gave birth in that condition and the baby grew up only to be recruited by criminal gangsters.
The lawmaker further decried the increasing number of out of school children, noting that in nine years, Nigeria recorded ten million out of school children, a development, he said portended dangers.
‘If you look at from 2013, we had about 4million children out of school, today you have 14m children out of school, add that to about 100 million people in poverty, especially if you look at the northeast and the northwest.
‘If we sit down here by 2025, we will have 20million children out of school, the security issue in this country will continue to get worse.
‘So, all these adhoc reaction of calling on Army, the police, we must have a compressive approach and declare a marshal law against out of school children.
‘As long as we have poverty and more children out of school, as long as we have under age children giving birth, to more poverty, it is a fertile ground,’ he further stated.
Kidnapping for ransom has become a serious issue in Northern Nigeria over the last 5 years.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK