Uzochukwu Okoli, an Anambra State resident said to have married off his underage daughter to a 34-year-old man, has been arrested by the police.

Okoli was arrested alongside the 34-year-old man identified as Chinedu Nweke after his 16-year-old daughter reported the ill-treatment from the father to the state Ministry of Women and Social Welfare.

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According to local reports, a statement issued by the ministry on Thursday revealed that Okoli forced his daughter to take a husband after the death of his wife, the girl’s mother.

It was also stated that she had been previously forced to live with a 70-year-old man when she was 14. She ran back to her father’s house, after which the father gave her out to a 34-year-old.

“[The girl], who was accompanied by her elder sister, explained that life with the said husband has been a ‘living hell’ because he beats her and sometimes, after beating her, pees in her mouth and that made her run away with her nine-month-old baby,” reported The PUNCH.

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“Okoli, when he was handcuffed, threatened to deal with the daughters if he made it out of prison. He also urged them to pray he died in prison because he would make life more miserable for them.”