By Pwanagba Agabus, Jos
A civil rights group under the aegis of Christian Rights Agenda (CRA) has condemned in the strongest terms the alleged forceful and provocative conversion of Christian minors (girls) from Christianity to Islam by the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The Group equally noted with concern that since becoming Governor in 2015, Ganduje has made it a state policy to embark on mass conversion of indigenous Hausa Christians using money and coercion every Friday.
The CRA also described as “disheartening”, considering that both the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, and the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Audu Ogbeh, are Christians, but have decided to keep mute over what is being treaded by Governor Ganduje.
The CRA disclosed this through its Director of Publicity, Tom Chiamen, in Jos, the Plateau State Capital.
The Group said, “Indigenous Hausa Christians in Kano state have been subjugated under Ganduje’s administration and are denied their rights and privileges as citizens.
“A clear example is denial of scholarships to Christian students studying in tertiary institutions in and outside Kano state.
It also obsevered that, “Many Hausa Christians have also been denied employment opportunities and live in perpetual fear as second class citizens.
“Despite clear improvement in infrastructure in kano state, Christian dominated parts of Kano metropolis are still in their pre-1999 ruinous conditions”, the Group lamented.
“But expending state resources for jihad inspired conversion of Christian minors by force, tricks, intimidation, threats and all kinds of backward means, is the most annoying insult indigenous Christians of Kano state are forced to live with under Ganduje.
According to the CRA, “The lame explanation by the governor that the teenage girls in question are pagans and not Christians is not tenable because pagans don’t bear Biblical names such as Rebecca.
“We demand that these girls and many others be returned to their parents with immediate effect or we will be left with no option than to take legal action against the Kano state government in addition to reporting him to the International community including the International Criminal Court, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the governments of the United States of America, Britain and the European Union.
“We call on all men and women of goodwill, including President Muhammadu Buhari, to rein in Governor Ganduje to desist from his mission and release the girls and many other forcefully abducted and converted to Islam.
“It is very disheartening that the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Plateau state Governor, Simon Lalong, and the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Audu Ogbeh, who both are Christians, have remained silent over this dangerous path being treaded by Ganduje.
The however said, “The deafening silence by Governor Lalong and Chief Ogbeh at this time is never golden and may be construed to be acquiescence. It is time they come out and talk.
“The Governor’s action portends great danger to the fragile unity, peace and stability of Nigeria as a nation”, it stressed.
