Sharia Court marries off Christian tailoring apprentice to her Muslim trainer
From John Adams, Minna
a possible religious crisis is looming in Shundna in Erena village, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. This followed the decision of the Sharia Court in Erena to forcefully marry out Janet Habila, a Christian to her Muslim boss, Nasiru, a tailor.
Janet, 16, an apprentice in Nasiru’s tailoring shop did not go beyond primary school. She is daughter of Habila Gambo, a leader with the United Mountain of Grace in Shundna. Janet herself is a leader of Sabo Rayi (New Life) Group in the church.
She enrolled in the tailoring institute in 2016, but rather than learning the trade, a surprise marriage notification was brought from the Sharia court. Nasiru, a Nigerien, allegedly approached the court to join him and Janet as husband and wife without seeking the consent and approval of the parents.
The father vowed that unless the decision by the Sharia court, presided over by Umar Shehu, to forcefully marry his daughter out to the Nigerien without his consent is reversed, “it will eventually lead to a possible religious crisis in Erena.” He warned that this kind of illegality would not be tolerated: “Erena and its environs will be thrown into confusion and possible anarchy.”
“Sometime in 2016, I enrolled my daughter, Janet into Nasiru’s tailoring institute as an apprentice to learn faction design since she refused to continue with her education. She never disclosed to me one day that this man was asking for her hand in marriage.
“To my surprise, on March 16, 2017, I came back home and met a court sermon, asking me to report at the Sharia Court, Erena. On getting there, I was told that my daughter had converted to Islam and that her marriage had been fixed for 2:00pm that same day.
“I told the Sharia Court judge that as the father of Janet, I am not aware of such arrangement because my daughter never discussed anything like that with me. So, therefore, I am not going to accept it and I will not be part of it.
“But to my surprise the Judge told me that the court only wanted to inform me and that is all. That the marriage will go on as planned even without my consent.
“My daughter had never told me that she wanted to covert to Islam not to talk of marrying a Muslim. I paid a lot of money to train her and I will not allow this to happen while I am alive.”
Gambo lodged a former letter of complaint before the Niger State Police Command to urgently intervene and rescue his daughter from what he called “unlawful marriage” to Nasiru:
“I am urgently appealing to the police command to intervene to stop any religious crisis that may erupt as a result of this abuse and criminal act.”
It was gathered that following the complaint by Habila, and to forestall a possible breakdown of law and order, the police arrested Nasiru and detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Minna.
However, who Janet was handed over to her parents, told Daily Sun that she could not recall what actually happened: “I was confused, I didn’t know what happened. But I was taking every instruction from him (Nasiru).”
Asked why she did not inform her parents of Nasiru’s proposal of marriage to her: “I was afraid to let my parents know because of the consequences. I was equally afraid to turn down Nasiru’s love advance even though inside me I didn’t like the idea.”
Nasiru was released on bail pending the outcome of police investigation.
Meanwhile, the state Judicial Service Commission and the Chief Judge, Justice Mariam Dzukogi, were petioned by Gambo to investigate the role of the Sharia Court judge Umar Shehu in the matter. The petition dated April 24, 2017, appealed to the NJSC to suspend the judge immediately to allow for thorough investigation of the role of the court in the marriage.
The petitioner argued that the judge ought to know that under the Child Rights Act, Janet “is a minor and not in position to consent to marriage proposal or change of religion as she was brought up in Christian faith.”
He said on March 15, 2017, he was summoned by the sharia judge to appear in court the next day. He was shocked to hear from the judge that his daughter Janet had converted and embraced Islam, her name changed to Zainab and married to Nasiru Yusuf of Erena whom she was entrusted to learn the art of tailoring.
Gambo alleged that the judge disregarded his vehement objections ordering him out of the court thereby making his role in the whole saga suspicious.
Cases of forced marriage are becoming rampart in the state. In 2013, one Charity, a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, and daughter of a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), suffered a similar fate. She was taken into custody in the palace of the Etsu Nupe and married out to a Muslim without the consent of the parents.
For the parents, the pain was not just that Charity abandoned her Christian faith, but that she was completely separated from them. She was alleged to have converted to Islam on her own volition and changed her name to Aisha. However, Pastor Raymond Uzoechina insisted his daughter was a victim of forced conversion to Islam:
“Apart from my daughter, there are so many people at the palace. There is need for the police to investigate and ensure that the people are not suffering the fate of my daughter.” He insisted that his daughter was kidnapped and hypnotized, making her to loose her senses of reasoning:
“It all started on March 1 and 2 (2017) when I got a call from an aide of the emir, asking me to come to the palace. On getting to the palace in Bida, I met my daughter with two other women. The man said these women brought my daughter to the palace that she has embraced Islam and she has also been withdrawn from school.
“Those women even claimed they have taken her through the rudiments of Islam and have started looking for a school for her. At this juncture, I demanded that I am going home with her. But the man declined, saying only the emir has the power to allow the girl go with me. They took me to the emir but the emir refused my plea, saying I should come back next (the following) week.”
The pastor got the greatest shock of his life when he tried to take his daughter but was told that she was now under the custody of the Sharia Court. The Sharia Court 1, presided over by Abdulkadir Idris said it arrived at the decision because the girl claimed her father could kill her following her change of faith. It also accused the defendant (Pastor Uzoechina) of shunning an invitation to appear before it to defend himself.
“At this juncture, this honourable court hereby orders that the custody of the plaintiff be entrusted in the hand of Etsu Nupe for the time being. The Etsu Nupe should employ a qualified Islamic scholar who will be teaching her and showing her what the Islamic customs are all about and the plaintiff can even be watching and selecting a man of her choice whom she will want to marry,” the court ruled.