How does polygamy work in Nigeria?

Under civil law, Nigeria does not recognize polygamous unions. However, 12 out of the 36 Nigerian states recognize polygamous marriages as being equivalent to monogamous marriages. All twelve states are governed by Sharia Law.

Can you have 2 wives in Nigeria?

Marrying multiple wives is a lot less common among educated people in Nigeria but polygamy still happens in rural areas, especially in the Muslim north. It is legal. Though the official marriage registry only allows for one wife, it also has a clause that allows for marriage under “customary” law.

How do polygamous marriages work?

Polygamy (from Late Greek πολυγαμία, polygamía, “state of marriage to many spouses”) is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry.

What happens if you practice polygamy?

Under California law, the act of bigamy is among the crimes listed together with other “crimes against nature,” and is punishable by up to $10,000 in fines and a jail sentence of no more than one year in year. California Penal Code § 281 defines “bigamy” to mean “having a spouse living, who married or enters into a …

How many wife can you have in Nigeria?

one wife
” Moslems make up a slim majority of the nation’s population, and Islamic law allows a man to have four wives. But anyone, whether Moslem or Christian, can choose to wed under Nigeria’s Marriage Act, which legally recognizes only one wife.

Do Yoruba men have multiple wives?

However, in the recent time, many of the Yoruba Muslim men practise polygyny lustfully to marry more than one wife and abandon them to fend for themselves. The target population for the study consists of the Yoruba Muslims living in the South-Western part of Nigeria – Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Lagos States.

How many wives can a man in Nigeria have?

four wives

Is bigamy allowed in Nigeria?

Ingredients of Bigamy. Nigeria operates a dual legal system. The Marriage Act, therefore, prohibits bigamy and penalizes it. Section 35 of the Marriage Act prohibits a person who is married under the Act to pursue any other marriage with anyone else save for the same person previously married under Act.

How many wives does the average Nigerian man have?

Although a minority of Nigerian men practice polygamy today, it is not unusual in the cities and is still a common practice in rural areas, where men have on average three wives. ”Nigeria is essentially and fundamentally a polygamous society,” said Gani Fawehinmi, a Moslem lawyer with two wives.

How common is polygamy in Nigeria?

According to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2008, a third of married women in Nigeria are in polygamous unions and 16\% of married men (aged 15-49) have more than one wife. Polygamy is more prevalent in northern Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim.