From Saka Bolaji, Minna
A petition has been sent to the Niger state Judicial Service Commission and the state Chief Judge, Mariam Dzukogi, to investigate the role of a Sharia court judge in Erena area of the state, Umar Shehu in the adoption and forceful marriage of an underage girl named Janet Habila, in his court without the consent of her parents.
The judge, according to the petitions filed by counsel to Habila Gambo, father of the 16-year-old girl, ordered the marriage of Janet to one Nasiru Yusuf in the absence of her parents on false claim that she had converted to Islam.
Dated 24th April 2017, and filed on behalf Gambo by Daniel Omokor, the petition appealed to the NJSC to suspend the judge immediately to allow for thorough investigation of the role of the sharia court in the illegal marriage.
The petitioner argued that the judge should have known that under the Child Rights Act, Janet is a minor and not in position to consent to marriage proposal or change of religion as she was brought up in Christian faith.
He said: “On 15th March 2017, our client was summoned by the Sharia judge to appear in court the next day. He was shocked to hear from the judge of the Sharia Court that his daughter Janet had converted and embraced Islam and her name has been changed to Zainab and she has been married to Nasiru Yusuf of Erena whom she has been entrusted to learn the art of tailoring”.
Gambo said that the judge disregarded his vehement objections, ordering him out of the court thereby making his role in the whole saga suspicious.
He also called for the arrest of Nasiru Yusuf for illegal adoption, and forcefully marriage as against the provisions of the Child’s Rights Act while pleading for the immediate release of Janet to her parents.
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