A-14-year-old girl, Habiba Isiyaku, whose father, Isiyaku Tanko, accused the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Usman, of marrying off to her abductor Jamilu Lawal, has come out to deny her father’s claim, saying that she changed her religion and married in her own volition.
Tanko had in a press conference in Abuja during the week, accused the Emir of marrying off his daughter to her alleged abductor, Lawal, insisting that his daughter was abducted from her school, Government Senior Secondary School, Kudun Kankara, Kastina State by Lawal, and forcefully converted to Islam and married off by the Emir without her parents’ consent.
Habiba claimed she was neither coerced or forced into accepting Islam as a religion or getting married to her said abductor, Jamilu.
The teenage girl was speaking before a joint committee session with officials of Katsina Emirate, Katsina chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and security personnel yesterday.
She said, “I took all decisions in my own volition. I chose on my own to become a Muslim and relocated to the emir’s palace for fear of what I might go through and the threat coming from my parents.”
The Emir of Katsina, represented at the meeting by one of his chiefs, Nuhu Abdulkadir, however, denied claims of forcefully marrying Habiba off to Jamilu, adding that Habiba got married out of her own will.
He said Tanko had written the police, claiming that his daughter was abducted by Jamilu, one of the Emir’s servants, converted her to a Muslim and married her off without his consent as her father.
Nuhu further explained that the palace had conducted internal investigations upon receiving the petition from the police, which actually showed that Habiba was not forced into marriage or converted to a Muslim as claimed by her father.
He noted that Habiba had shown interest in marrying Jamilu and a wedding was conducted by the Emirate who received a bride price of N50,000.
Nuhu claimed that while the police interrogated Habiba, she made it clear she was neither forced nor coerced and that she doesn’t want to return home with her father.
He also claimed that after the investigation, Tanko had written to the emirate, apologizing for the allegations.
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