Polyandry (one woman with many husbands) Among the Irigwe of Plateau State,Nigeria.

Polyandry (one woman with many husbands) Among the Irigwe of Plateau State,Nigeria.



Among the Irigwe people of present-day Plateau State, a unique marital tradition once existed in which women could have multiple husbands. This form of marriage, known as polyandry, was practised for many decades and formed part of the community’s social structure before it was officially outlawed in 1968.
Under the system, a woman could move freely between the homes of her husbands. Although she had more than one spouse, the paternity of her children was traditionally assigned to the husband with whom she was living at the time of birth.

Historians and anthropologists have noted several reasons behind the practice. In some cases, it helped families pool labour and resources for farming and survival. It also served as a social solution to infertility, allowing childbearing responsibilities to be shared within the marriage structure. Questions of inheritance and family continuity were also tied to the custom.

The Irigwe system remains one of the lesser-known examples of the diversity of marriage traditions that once existed across different Nigerian societies, reflecting how communities developed customs suited to their social and economic realities.

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