The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has strongly condemned reports that a Magistrate Court in Kano allegedly ordered two popular TikTok content creators, Idris Mai Wushirya and Basira Yar Guda, to formalize their relationship through marriage within 60 days, following a case involving an “indecent video.”
Describing the development as a grave violation of constitutional rights and a misuse of judicial power, the NBA stated that no court in Nigeria has the authority to compel any person to marry another.
In a firm statement, NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, emphasized that marriage is a voluntary union between consenting adults, not a tool for punishment, moral correction, or judicial remedy.
“Any attempt by a court to impose marriage is unconstitutional, unlawful, and an affront to personal liberty, dignity, and privacy,” he said.
The Association warned that such judicial overreach undermines public confidence in the judiciary and called for an immediate review of the decision by Magistrate Halima Wali.
It also directed the NBA Citizens’ Liberties Committee and NBA Women’s Forum to monitor the matter to ensure that the rule of law prevails.
“No person should ever be coerced, directly or indirectly, into marriage by any institution of state, including the courts,” the statement concluded.
Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN
President, Nigerian Bar Association
