Heartbreaking Documentary Exposes Cross River Tribe Where Girls Are Sold For N3,500 | Video
A new documentary has exposed a shocking revelation about the Cross River tribe where young girls are sold off for as little as N3,500 or used to offset debt.
In Becheve tribe, in Obanliku LGA, Cross River; parents are appreciative of their daughters (money woman), though the knowledge of the fact that these daughters would be used to offset debts propels that appreciation.
Some of these girls are as young as 6 years old- they are used to play bets, or to settle hospital bills or given off for as little as N3500.
Here, a 10-year-old girl is considered ripe for marriage and she is taught to cook and clean.
This age-long practice imposes that a woman has the roles of having children and bringing money into the home. She is allowed to bring in the man (her customer) into her home and she is allowed to have sex with him as long as it is not done on her matrimonial bed.
For some, they are given to money-lenders until they could get their money back. During that period, the money-lender s are allowed to do as they please with the girls, including getting them to birth babies with them. It is only on the condition that the parents are able to pay the incurring interests on the debt owed that the girls are returned to them.
When a girl is sold off, her father does not share the proceeds he gets from the transaction. And once married, the girl is prevented from going to school; she is given left-over meals and, she is treated as a property.
It is however a social status determiner because only the rich can afford to have as many as they want.
Now, despite the existence of Nigerian law against this kind of practice, it is still adhered to in that part of Cross-River, and it is shameful.
At present, missionaries who are in the area are reported to be working towards ensuring that the practice is abolished.