Journalist badly beaten in Ibadan

– Police rescued three teenage girls who were abducted and converted to Islam in Bauchi – The police commissioner in Bauchi, Baba Tijjani said the girl volunteered to converted to Islam on their own 
– They have been released to their parents 
– Their families could not contain their joy over the release of their daughters


Three teenage girls, who were abducted in Bauchi state and forcefully converted to Islam, have been rescued by the police. They were handed over on Tuesday, March 16, by the Shari’ah commission in the state to Tunde Ogunsakin, the assistant inspector-general of police, Zone 12, Bauchi, The Punch reports. The three girls were identified as Blessing Gopep, 13, Linda Christopher, 16 and Progress Jacob, 13.

Blessing was reportedly abducted by two men, identified as Iliya and Umaru in August 2015, while Linda was abducted in November by one Mallam Shagari in Tarsha Durumi village.
The third girl, Progress was abducted by Mallam Musa in the Yelwa, Sabon Kaura area of Bauchi state, on her way back from church on January 3. The family of Progress searched for her but all efforts to locate her proved abortive until a letter was delivered to them from the Bauchi state Shari’ah commission, that she had been converted to Islam. Linda’s parents also got a letter from the Shari’a commission, notifying them of their daughter’s custody and her conversion to Islam.

She had earlier left Enugu to join her parents, who lived in the Katanga Giwa village of Bauchi before she was abducted. Confirming their release, the commissioner of police, Bauchi state police command, Baba Tijjani said: “The girls have been released. They were not held by the Bauchi state Shari’ah commission; they volunteered to become Muslims on their own and reported themselves to the Da’awah & Islamic Education Department, which took them to the Bauchi state Shari’ah commission. “Now, they have been produced. Progress Jacob and Linda Christopher have been released to their parents while Blessing Gopep’s parents have been told to come tomorrow (Wednesday) and they will go home with their daughter.” He added that investigations were ongoing. Also speaking, Mbami Sabka, the executive director of Prison Inmate Development Initiative (PIDI), a non-governmental organisation, handling the matter, said he was glad that effort to rescue the girls was not wasted.

According to him, this was the beginning of the release of more child brides. The families of the three abducted girls were full of joy over the release of their daughters. PIDI had written letters to the state commissioner of police and the National Human Rights Commission but got no response before taking the cases to Amnesty International. There have been several reports of teenage girls been abducted and converted to Islam. Some weeks back, report surfaced that a teenage girl, Ese Oruru was abducted from Yenagoa, Bayelsa state and taken to Kano by one Yinusa Dahiru alias Yellow. She was married and converted to Islam. Following public outcry, she was rescued and returned to her parents while her abductor was arrested and is facing trial. A young girl, Ifeoma Nicodemus who is now aged 15, was reportedly kidnapped from her family in Zaria, Kaduna state, and taken to Ebonyi state on September 14, 2014. There, she allegedly married Shehu Abdullahi, was converted to Islam and held against her will.