Man Petitions IG over Abduction of Daughter for Forceful Marriage

Laleye Dipo in Minna

A local farmer in Shudna village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, Habila Gambo, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IG), Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, over the abduction and forceful marriage of his 16-year-old daughter, Janet, by a tailor, Nasiru Yusuf.

Yusuf, according to the petition, had abducted the teenager in Erena village where she was learning tailoring.

In the petition titled: “Complaints of criminal breach of trust, kidnapping, unlawful abduction and forceful marriage of a minor, Janet Habila by one Nasiru Yusuf of Erena village in Shiroro Local Government of Niger State.”

Gambo said his daughter was kidnapped and forced into marriage by the man who was entrusted to train her as a tailor.

 The petition  dated April 24, 2017, and signed on behalf of the petitioner by one Daniel Omakor of Cosmic Chambers in Minna, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY, also accused a Sharia court judge in Erena of conspiring with Yusuf to secretly contract a marriage between Janet and Yusuf under unknown Islamic law without the consent of her Christian parents.

The petition read in part, “On March 15, 2017, our client got home and was showed a summons from the Sharia Court, Erena, commanding him to attend court the following day unfailingly.

“Our client accompanied by his cousin, one Pastor Ishaya Jagaba, without knowing the nefarious grand plan that awaited him, was shocked to hear from the judge of the Sharia Court that his daughter, Janet, had converted and embraced Islam and her name had been changed to Zainab and that she has been married to Yusuf of Erena whom she has been entrusted to learn the art of tailoring.”

Habila said the judge ignored his vehement objection to the purported marriage on the grounds that his daughter “is a minor and incapable of giving consent to marriage without her parents.”

He expressed shock that the judge ordered him out of the court, claiming the judge said: “He was only summoned to be informed of the marriage and nothing more.”

The petitioner lamented that an earlier petition to the Minna Area Police Command did not yield any form of justice, saying Yusuf was released at state CID and Janet handed over to the suspect after establishing the fact that the girl was minor and there was no parental consent.

The petitioner therefore asked the IG to assist in the immediate return of Janet to him  “from the unlawful custody.”

He also asked that “a thorough medical examination on her should be conducted” because  “she is likely to have been violated and defiled by Yusuf.”

 He also prayed the IG to order a full scale investigation into the matter and immediately prosecute Yusuf along with the judge.