13-year-old Hauwa Dadi, daughter of a former Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, who was abducted and allegedly kept at the palace of the Emir of Gashua for ‘Islamic evangelism’ through forced marriage, regained her freedom on Sunday, four days after she was allegedly abducted.
The SS1 student of Brighter Academy Secondary School, Gashua, Yobe State, freedom from the palace of the Emir, Alhaji Abubakar Suleman, came after a civil rights organization, Stefanos Foundation, through it Executive Director of SF, Mark Lipdo, blew the lid off the alleged plot to force the teenager into marriage.
It was gathered that the Christian community and Evangelical Church Winning All in the Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State had been thrown into confusion, following the abduction of the teenager. Gashua Police Area Commander, Joseph Aloefuna who confirmed the abduction story told Punch correspondent;
“There was this boy who was said to have insisted on marrying the girl (Hauwa). They are in the same school. The matter was reported to the school management and the boy was punished and warned to stop harassing the girl.
Later, the girl was abducted and the boy was the prime suspect. The boy was arrested but claimed that the girl ran to the Emir’s palace because she wanted to convert to Islam.
The Emir took her to the Chief Imam; the Chief Imam said the girl was scared but he was asked to take her to the welfare officials instead of keeping her in his custody. We took the statement of everybody concerned. The Chief Imam said there was going to be a meeting on the matter.”
