It was a memorable day at the Lagos State Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities when two of their trainees who are both physically challenged were joined in holy matrimony.
The ceremony was well attended as officials of the Lagos Office of Youth and Social Development also came to witness as the couple were joined by a Baptist pastor.
The bride, Simiat Abiola, 20, has a low IQ and cannot write her name while the groom Dare Akinyemi, 42, has a speech impairment with extremely low intelligence quotient.
While speaking during the ceremony, the principal of the centre, Mrs Folusho Adeolu, said the centre had been in existence since 1997 for children with special needs.
“The bride and groom are not like other children. Simiat, I was told, was fostered at Idi-Araba by a woman who later died before she was brought here. She went through school up to JSS but cannot write her name because of her condition.
“One of our ex-trainees took interest in her. He also has speech impairment. We did all the proper wedding for them, from traditional wedding to church wedding. A Baptist pastor came here to wed them,” she explained.
The principal further mentioned that due to conditions, the sister of the groom had volunteered to look after the couple.
“They will be living together, but close to the house of his sister. The groom learnt shoe making from our centre, so he is going to fend for his wife,”
She added that the next stage was to restore the couple into the society, so that couple could adapt to a new life of marriage and family.
