It is a common practice in Nigeria for the various religious denominations to celebrate marriages between their members which have no relevance to or connection with the Marriage Act. For instance, a Roman Carhouc marriage is a rnonogamous one, which must be performed before a priest and two lay witnesses after the necessary banns have been published. Such marriage is celebrated provided that no reasons are given by anyone which may prohibit the marriage. The necessary formalities are those for marriage under the rites of the Roman Catholic church. The marriage is regarded as valid by the church inspite of the fact that it does not comply with the provisions of the law.

In general, the Roman Catholic Church insists that its members must be married in accordance with the rites of that church. Where members of the church have gone through a form of 'civil marriages' they must, in order to obtain recognition by the church as husband and wife, go through a form of marriage under the rites of the church. After the celebration of a 'church marriage', the Roman Catholic Church issues a certificate of marriage which is different from that in Form E of the First Schedule to the Marriage Act. Such practice is common to various other religious bodies in Nigeria. it is a matter for great concern that religious bodies in Nigeria are often very eager to celebrate marriage according to their respective riles even when the place of celebration is not licensed for marriages under the Act. In a great number of cases, little or no attention is given to the provisions of the Marriage Act.

Ministers of religion are known to encourage the celebration of such 'church marriage' even though they are fully aware of the provisions of the law. It is incumbent on the hierarchy of the various churches to bring to the attention of their ministers and members the importance of complying with the law of the land. In this respect, it may be necessary to instruct the priests in the basic requirements of the law of marriage. It is pertinent to emphasize that the celebration of 'church marriage' is contrary to the law. Section 22 of the Marriage Act provides that:

A minister shall not celebrate any marriage if he knows of an, just impediment lo such marriage, nor until the parties deliver to him the registrar's certificate or the licence issued under section 13.

Failure to comply with this provision may constitute an offence punishable with five year's imprisonment. In Obiekwe v Obiekwe,14 Palmer J, was called upon to determine the validity of a marriage celebrated at the Holy Ghost Roman Catholic Church, Enugu, on 30 December 1961, without the parties thereto complying with the provision of the Marriage Act. The learned Judge, after remarking on the indifferent attitude of the officiating priest to the law pointed out that:

As the law of Nigeria confers upon priests and ministers of religion the right to officiate at marriages recognised by the state, it is their duty to make themselves familiar with the Ordinance and to see that people who come to them to be married understand their legal position.

With regard to the validity of church marriage', Palmer, J, enunciated the law succinctly thus:

A good deal has been said about 'church marriage' or 'Marriage under Roman Catholic Law'. So far as the law of Nigeria is concerned, there is only one form of monogamous marriage, and thai is marriage under the Ordinance. Legally a marriage in a Church (or any denomination) is either a marriage under the Ordinance or it is nothing. In this case, if the parties had not been validly married under the Ordinance then either they are married under Native Law and Custom or they are not married at all. In either case the ceremony in church would have made not a scrap.of difference to their legal status.