Emir of Katsina State denie Marrying 14-year-old girl, says he only endorsed marriage to subject’

Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumuni Usman, clarified that, he is not the one who married the 14-year-old girl, Habiba Isa, who was allegedly forcefully converted to Islam and forced into marriage.

The Islamic group, at a press conference in Katsina on Tuesday, said  Habiba’s husband was “a young man called Jamilu Lawal.”

The group, which spoke through its chairman, Sheikh Yakubu Hassan, cautioned against people dragging the name of the royal father into the controversy.

The group said, “The allegations recently made by Christian leaders in the state that the Emir of Katsina forcefully converted an underage Christian girl, Habiba Isa, to Islam and then married her is an insult to Muslims and a deliberate attempt to pollute the peaceful atmosphere that the community enjoys in the state. JIBWIS has all the evidence that Habiba (Isa) is an adult and was neither forced to become Muslim nor to marry Lawal.

“The emir as a father to all Muslims in the emirate only endorsed the marriage of Habiba to a young man she chose for herself, and that is one of the functions of Muslim leaders in Islam. It will therefore be a mistake for Christian leaders in the state to connive with outside forces in trading false allegations against such leaders.”

JIBWIS, citing some documents, maintained that Isa was born on July 20, 1999, as against the purported date of May 15, 2001, being given as her date of birth.

“In Islam, it is an act of infidelity to force one to a religion. The constitution of the country is, however, in support of any Nigerian who decides to adopt a faith on his or her own wish,” the religious group added.

Emir of Katsina State denie Marrying 14-year-old girl, says he only endorsed marriage to subject’