Aminu Danmaliki, the Nigerian man accused of marrying an 11-year-old girl, has debunked the news report.
A Twitter handle, @TheSabiRadio, broke the news on Wednesday, 15 March that a man, 61, had taken an 11-year-old as his bride.
“Video: Alhaji marries 11-year-old girl in Kano, says they love each other, and she’s his choice,” the handle tweeted.
For days, news of the alleged child marriage trended on Twitter.
Despite rebuttals from some Nigerians who personally knew the couple, others believed the groom should be prosecuted for child marriage.
However, Mr Danmaliki, a politician from Bauchi State, has debunked the report.
Taking to his Facebook page, Mr Danmaliki said the news reports saying that his bride, whose name is given as Sakina Waziri, is 11 are false.
Captioning a photo of himself and his latest bride, he said she was neither underage nor forced to marry him.
He wrote: “My recent marriage with Sakina has generated a lot of tension and unfounded allegations that I married an underage girl, some suggesting she is 11 years old and was forced to marry me.
“That is untrue. The Wedding Video went viral. We decided to keep mute but were advised to state the facts; here it is: My beloved wife is 21 years old. She made her own choice of me as her husband, and I love her too.”
He further called on “blackmailers and doubting Thomas” to see the reality in the picture and leave them alone to enjoy their honeymoon.
