She is still in the dark on how her cousin was abducted.
“We live in Bauchi. Progress, went to church on January 3, 2016. The church closes at 10:30am, but as at 12pm, she was not back from church. I called my son and told him to check the church to find out if there was an ongoing programme. When he returned, he informed me that the church was locked and nothing was happening there,” she recalled.
According to her, the search for Progress became intense when family members who lived around the Yelwa area confirmed they had not seen her.
“I was worried and decided to go in search of her. I searched the whole of the neighbourhood till late at night but she wasn’t found,” she said.
Accompanied by her daughter and some family members, they reported the incident to the Yelwa Police Division and to the traditional ruler of the Sabon Kaura area, Seriki Sabon Kaura. Both the Police and traditional ruler told them to search for the girl and inform them if they were successful. Not giving up, they embarked on the search alone.
Three days after the case was reported to the police, Gobet’s daughter, Blessing, who is a teacher, decided to continue the daily search. She met a young girl in the vicinity where they live, who informed her that she saw Progress wearing a hijab the previous day. The girl also told Blessing she saw her (Progress) in company with another girl, Hadiza.
Blessing said she ran to Hadiza’s home with the hope of finding Progress, but she was disappointed.
Gobet said, “My daughter went to Hadiza’s home. She knocked but no one answered the door. When she came outside to ask the children playing outside about Progress, Hadiza’s father, Mallam Musa came out. She told him why she came but before she concluded, he aggressively told her there was no girl in his house.”
Disappointed, Blessing went back home and informed her mum who went back to the police to report the matter. Mallam Musa was arrested but later bailed that night and told to return the next day.
The next day, according to Gobet, two men delivered a letter to the police station, informing them that Progress had been converted to Islam and her name changed to Aishat.
The family reached out to a non-governmental organisation that wrote a petition to the National Human Rights Commission against the Shari’ah Commission and Da’wah Islamic Education and Mallam Musa.
Our correspondent spoke with NHRC’s, Deputy Director of Protection and Investigation, Lambert Oparah. He said, “We are working to ensure the girls are released but we cannot give full details as it is an ongoing case. We will reach out to the stakeholders involved and we are hopeful that she will be released as we have handled such cases in the past.”
When SUNDAY PUNCH reached out to the Shari’ah Commission, the acting Director of the Da’awah & Islamic Education Department under the Bauchi State Shariah Commission, Muh’d Hadi Aliyu, said the commission would not comment on the matter without proper proof that our correspondent is a journalist. He said, “I cannot comment on the issue over the phone, except you come to Bauchi. The parents should come to the commission if they have any questions, or they can inform the Christian Association of Nigeria. They are aware of our activities and work with us.”
Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, North-East, Rev. Shuaibu Byal, said even though the Bauchi State Shari’ah Commission is in existence as an agency of government, CAN has no dealing with them.
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