The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has criticized a reported decision by a Kano State Magistrate Court ordering two social media influencers, Idris Mai Wushirya and Basira Yar Guda, to marry each other within 60 days.
According to reports, the directive followed a case against the duo over a viral TikTok video that state authorities considered “indecent.” The Kano State Films and Video Censorship Board had claimed that the video violated public morality and religious principles guiding conduct within the state.
During the hearing on Monday, October 20, 2025, Magistrate Halima Wali reportedly ordered the Hisbah Board to ensure that the two content creators, Mai Wushirya and Yar Guda, formalize their relationship through marriage within two months. The judge allegedly warned that failure to comply with the directive would amount to contempt of court.
Reacting to the development, NBA President Afam Osigwe denounced the ruling in a statement shared via social media on Tuesday, describing it as unconstitutional and an abuse of judicial power.
He said, “No court can compel two persons to marry. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) notes with serious concern reports of a Magistrate court in Kano allegedly ordering two popular TikTok content creators, Idris Mai Wushirya and Basira Yar Guda, to formalise their relationship through marriage within 60 days following a case arising from the publication of an indecent video.”
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Osigwe condemned the ruling as “a grave misunderstanding of the limits of judicial authority” and “an affront to fundamental rights.” He emphasized that marriage is a voluntary union between consenting adults and cannot be imposed as a form of punishment, moral correction, or judicial sanction.
“It is indeed unconstitutional and therefore unlawful for any court to purport to have power to make such an order. Marriage, by its very nature, is a voluntary union between consenting adults. It cannot, under any circumstance, be imposed as a form of punishment, moral correction, or judicial remedy,” he added.
The NBA President further argued that the ruling violates the constitutional rights to personal liberty, dignity, and privacy guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He continued, “No court in Nigeria possesses the constitutional authority to compel two persons to marry, and any attempt to do so violates the rights to personal liberty, dignity of the human person, and privacy as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
The association urged an immediate review of the ruling by Magistrate Wali and called on the judiciary to prevent similar incidents in the future.
“The NBA stresses that such judicial overreach not only infringes on personal freedoms but also undermines public confidence in the judiciary. The courts must remain the bastion of justice and protectors of constitutional rights, not instruments for enforcing social conformity or moral compulsion,” the statement read.
Osigwe directed the NBA Citizens’ Liberties Committee and Women’s Forum to monitor the situation closely to ensure that the rule of law is upheld.
“No person should ever be coerced, directly or indirectly, into marriage by any institution of state, including the courts,” he concluded.
