Mr. Ndubuisi Nicodemus from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State lives in Zaria with his family. He revealed recently that his 16 years old daughter, Ifeoma has been forced into Islam and marriage without his consent. He added that for over one year he had not seen nor heard from his beloved teenage daughter who is a Christian and her name has been changed to Aishat.

“It all started in May (2014) when she came home late and her mother scolded her. She then left the compound for our neighbour’s place. We live among the Hausas who are majorly Muslims. So, we learnt that one Abdullahi took her to Mallam Khalil who worked with Ahmadu Bello University in Samaru. The next thing we heard was the conversion of our daughter to Muslim. “When we approached Khalil for the release of our daughter, he told us she had traveled to Sokoto. We reported the case to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Zaria, and they wrote to the Commissioner of Police in Kaduna State and the Dept of State Security (DSS) for assistance. The Police Commissioner, Shehu Umar, sent some of his men to Zaria, to ensure that the girl was released to us. “But on getting to Zaria, the man (Khalil) had gone to the Sharia court in Zaria to obtain a court order, granting him the custody of the girl. This order was granted without the court consulting her biological father. “Later, we were told that our daughter had been moved from Zaria to one school called Darul Islam in Kaduna where new converts are usually taken to. “Now when we approached the school in Kaduna alongside CAN representative, the authorities told us to go and get a written request to that effect because there was a written order from the court before our daughter was admitted. The school later appealed to us to come and take our girl because she was giving them problem. But we need the court order to do that. “Even with the intervention of the Commissioner of Police, the court refused to order her release and, instead, transferred the case to Upper Sharia Court in Zaria. “For more than a year now, we have not set our eyes on our daughter. We are against this injustice that keeps our child in the custody of another man. “We call on the authorities, including Kaduna State government, to come to our rescue. They have aborted our daughter’s education. She has also been kept incommunicado as we no longer hear from her. She remains a Christian and not a Muslim as they claim. She is just a 16-year-old girl and that makes her a minor. I want my daughter back so she can continue her education.” Ifeoma’s mother, Angnes Nicodemus, corroborated her husband’s story. She alleged that her daughter was said to have been married out to a Hausa-Muslim without their consent. “I was told that our daughter has been given to one Hausa boy as wife without our consent as parents. I was made to realise that the boy is working inside ABU though I don’t know whether as a staffer or not. This is modern oppression and slavery.” Angnes went on, “We have been doing everything we could legally. You can imagine how you will feel as a mother when your child is missing. But my daughter’s case is different because, for more than a year now she has been in the custody of another man. No contact, no phone call. This is rather unfortunate.”

Culled from Sunday Vanguard