NAN-H-37
Certificate
Jos, Dec.14, 2016 (NAN) Elizabeth Mangadi, Deputy Marriage Registrar, Jos North Local Government Council, has advised women on the need to obtain their marriage certificate, in case of divorce.
Mangadi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Jos that women needed the certificate to serve as legal documentation of their marriage and safeguard it in the event of a divorce.
According to her, the certificate is a legal document that protects a woman and entitles her to a share of the husband’s property in case of a divorce.
She noted that women were most vulnerable in cases of divorce and needed some form of protection which the certificate represented.
“The certificate serves as one of the guarantees in a marriage that makes the woman a legal part of the man in the marriage and entitles her with the rights of inheritance.
“Every woman should obtain and keep her certificate of marriage in a safe place.
“Most women just go to the Church for their wedding and ignorantly refuse to come to the registry to collect a marriage certificate,’’ she lamented.
The deputy marriage registrar said this often left the woman vulnerable at such times of a breakup, alleging that most men were not concerned about the plight of the woman immediately after the marriage.
“Some men may go all the length and do anything to discourage their wives from taking them to the registry so that in the event of a divorce, the women will not be entitled to a share of their property legally as a wife,” she said.
She said the importance of the certificate to the woman could not be over emphasised, saying that the registry had mounted a massive awareness campaign to sensitise women in the area to the issue.
Mangadi urged women whose marriages lacked the certificate to talk to their spouses into obtaining one as it would cover the children upon the death of either spouse. (NAN)
OIZ/ECN/AMY
Edited by Emmanuel Nwoye/Abdullahi Yusuf