NORTHERN young people's body the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has vowed to stop further abduction of teenage girls for marriage across the region in response to the latest scandal involving 14 year old Ese Oruru from Bayelsa State.
Over the last fortnight, Ese caught national and international attention after it was discovered that she had been abducted from her home in Bayesla State by a 25-year old man known as Yunusa. He then took her to the northern city of Kano, forcefully converted her to Islam, changed her name to Aisha and made her live with him in the Emir of Kano's palace.
Following the bringing of the matter to national attention, embarrassed, the Emir of Kano Alhaji Lamido Sanusi Mohammed, ordered Ese's immediate release. Across northern Nigeria, young girls are regularly forced into marriages with adults as cultural and Islamic practices allow it, saying the Koran justifies this.
Following the outrage this and other recent cases have caused, the AYCF said that from henceforth, it will ensure that the perpetrators of such crimes are made to face the full wrath of the law. AYCF president Comrade Shetima Yerima, said that as a body, they condemn such marriages to minors in its totality.
Comrade Yerima added: “The issue has been politicised with many people saying different things but despite this, the action is immoral. No parent would ever be happy to have an underage child taken away in that manner.
"Our attention has been drawn to the incident and we have taken it up as one of our projects to begin massive sensitization of people in our region against this kind of thing. We condemn it and stand to say that whoever does such should face the full wrath of the law."
Some Islamic clerics have also described the abductor’s action as un-Islamic. One such clerics, Imam Abdullahi Shuaib, the Lagos Coordinator Conference of Islamic Organisation described such marriages as unfortunate.
Imam Shuaib added: “ It is unfortunate because a number of Nigerians don’t understand the position of Islam on an issue like this. Islam does not encourage such things and the action is criminal and never an Islamic agenda.
"It also shows the gravity of moral loss in the society as having a conjugal relationship with a minor is a sin against God, humanity and the society at large. We need to do damage control here by getting medical experts to assist the girl to carry the pregnancy safely.”
Dr Luqman Abdurraheem, the national amir of The Muslim Congress, added: “In Islam, abduction is illegal and to now abduct and marry the victim is a higher illegality. The authorities in Kano ought to report the matter to the police and although they claimed that they did, I doubt it.
"The man’s action is very wrong and it paints a bad picture of Muslims in that part of the country. To marry in Islam, you must get the consent of the parents and you cannot claim to have married any woman when you don’t have the consent of the parents."
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