parents home in the Hausa community in Zaria, Kaduna in
May 2014 after an altercation with her mum. She reportedly
went to a neighbours house to calm down or so her parents
thought...21 months later, the parents are yet to see her.
Ifeoma is now believed to be living as Aisha somewhere in
Kaduna after allegedly being married off. Read the full story
from Sunnewsonline.ng after the cut...
Ifeoma, now 16, Saturday Sun learnt, might have been
converted to Islam, even as her mother disclosed that
she gathered reliably that her daughter had been
married off. This was the story, told to our reporter in
November last year.
Since then, nothing happened. But by last week
Wednesday, apparently following the public outcry
over the abduction of Bayelsa-born Ese, Mr. Nichode
mus was sighted at the Police Command
headquarters, in Kaduna. However, neither the Police
nor Mr. Nichodemus, was forthcoming on what
transpired last Wednesday.
The only thing he told Saturday Sun when pressed
further was that "the situation remains the same.
Nothing has changed, as my daughter is not back. The
Sharia Court handling the matter keeps adjourning the
case and as a result, we are still where we were last
year"
Speaking during an interview then, Ndubuisi
Nichodemus, resident of Sabon-Gari, Zaria, Kaduna
State, who appealed to the authorities concerned, to
help rescue his daughter, allegedly in the custody of
another man since 2014, said her daughter had come
home late on that fateful day and felt, as responsible
parents, she should be scolded. They did, and the girl
ran into a neighbour's house.
Thereafter, he said the girl claimed she had
renounced Christianity for Islam as her preferred
religion, which made one of the neighbours simply
identified as Abdullahi to take the girl to one Alhaji
Shehu Khalil, who train new converts into Islam. This
is even as Ifeoma's biological mother disclosed that
she heard reliably that her daughter has been given
out in marriage without her knowledge and consent.
According to Nudubuisi, "it all started in May (2014)
when she came home late and her mother talked to
her. She then left the compound to our neighbour's
place. We lived in the midst of Hausa who are majorly
Muslims. So, we learnt that Abdullahi has taken her to
Mallam, Khalil who work with Ahmadu Bello University,
at Energy Research here in Samaru. The next thing
we heard was the conversion of our daughter to
Islam.
"So after we approached him for the release of our
daughter, he told us she had traveled to Sokoto. When
we reported the case to the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN) in Zaria, and they wrote to
Commissioner of Police Kaduna State, Directorate of
State Security (DSS) for assistance, the Police
Commissioner, Shehu Umar, sent some of his men to
Zaria, that the girl should be handed over to her
biological parents.
"But on getting to Zaria, the man has gone to Sharia
Court in Zaria to collect a court order, granting him
the custody of the girl. This was granted without con
sulting her biological father.
"So, we were told that our daughter had been moved
from Zaria to one school called Da-rul Islam in Kaduna
where new converts are usually taken to. This attitude
is capable of igniting religion crisis in the State. We
have been in Zaria for more than three decades
without having any issue with anybody.
"Now when we approached the school in Kaduna
alongside the CAN representative, the school told us
to go and get a written clarification to that effect
because there was a written order from court before
she was admitted. The school later appealed to us to
come and take our girl because she was given them
problem. But we need court order to do that.
"Even with the intervention of the Commissioner of
Police that the girl should be released to us, the court
refused to release her and instead transferred the
case to upper Sharia court in Zaria.
"In fact, for more than a year now, we have not set
our eyes on our own daughter when we are still alive.
We are against this impunity that our child will be in
custody of another man when we the parents are
alive.
"The whole episode had even forced us out of the
former house where it all started. We are hereby
calling on concerned authorities including the State
government to come to our rescue. They have
aborted her schooling. She has also been kept
incommunicado as we are no longer hearing from her.
She remains a Christian and not a Muslim as they
claim. She is just a 15-year-old girl and that makes
her a minor in this case. I want my daughter back so
she can continue with her education."
But Ifeoma's mother, Angnes Nichodemus' view was
completely different form her husband's. She alleged
that her daughter was said to have been married out
to a Hausa Muslim without the consent of her
parents.
According to her, "I was told that one Hausa boy has
been given my daughter, a minor, as wife without our
input as parents. I was made to realise that the boy is
working inside ABU here in Zaria, though I don't know
whether as a staff of the school or not. This is rather
modern oppression and slavery.
"We have been doing everything we could legally. But
from the way it has been, it shows we are not one
Nigeria. 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 is being in custody of another man. No contact,
no phone call. This is rather unfortunate."
When contacted through his mobile telephone, the
man at the centre of the allegation, Alhaji Shehu
Khalil, was not ready to give much details on the
issues raised.
Instead, he just said "How did you manage to get my
number? Who said he has his daughter in my custody?
Well, I don't know anything. You can come to Zaria I
don't know anything because I cannot talk to you on
phone."
The Police on its part, through its Kaduna Command
Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Zubair Abubakar,
confirmed the incident but declined to comment
further, saying "you know the case is still in court and
I'm not permitted until the court decides."
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