A video of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, governor of Kano State, Northern Nigeria, trying to convert a Christian minor to the Islamic faith has surfaced online.
Ganduje could be seen in the video with official police officers and other Muslim leaders talking to the girl who seems to be under duress & pressure.
The Governor, who spoke in Hausa language, was captured questioning the young Christian girl who he claimed had decided to change her faith.’
The Governor who in the clip also asked the young girl to pick a Muslim name also told her that a ‘Malami would put her through on what Islam is all about.’
Using public funds, tax and power, this has created outrage in a state known for massive constant persecution of Christians.
The controversial conversion generated several criticism especially from Nigerians, many of who accused Ganduje of forcefully converting the young Christian girl to Islam.
A resident of Kaduna and Pastor with ECWA Church, shared the video on his Facebook, lamenting on why Christians in Kano state are ‘sorely persecuted’, and accusing Ganduje of being a governor only to the majority Muslims in the state.
He wrote
“Kano State Governor, Ganduje is seen in this video converting a Christian girl to Islam and changing her name. This shows clearly that he is a governor only to the Muslims. No wonder Christians in Kano state are sorely persecuted. How could a public officer paid with taxpayers (both Christians and Muslims) money be so insensitive and recklessly irresponsible and partial? God please arise for your children.“
Other reactions gathered on other social media platforms;
@Solomonaoenja, “If a Christian man does this to a Muslim girl in Kano, Ganduje will have his head on a spike for instigating disharmony in Kano State. The sheer hypocrisy of that act.”
@Mazi, “This is obviously a forced conversion. This girl child seems to be under duress & pressure. Has she attained the age of consent? Of all the plethora of challenges bedeviling Kano State, Governor Ganduje Gandollar selected to prioritize the conversion of a girl child?”
@Reuelnafisu, “You see, no northern Muslim will see this as wrong, we housed a matured girl for two years cos her parents wanted her dead for converting to a Christian, she is 24yo, once married, from. Bauchi we have to take her to Jos.”
@Goldmurrhfranki, “If a Christian governor were to do this, arewa will be on fire. A simple statement which govern or Wike made, they didn’t sleep for a month.”
@Josiahufono, “Imagine a reverse case; a southern governor trying to woo a minor to his religion, The #north would have been on fire.”
@philip15243792, “When we tell you people that northern Muslims have an agenda they will call us conspiracy theorists. If there’s no ulterior motives tell me what concerns a governor with converting a Christian to Muslim? You southern slaves supporting these people, kwantinue body go soon tell una.”
@ Festus_green, “She doesn’t seem to have attained the age of consent, she’s a child and could not have given consent?
Forceful conversion of Christians to the Islamic faith is not new around the world, and it’s generally accepted in Islam.
Recall that a 14-year-old Christian girl who lived in the Zia Colony located in Karachi, Pakistan was in December, kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and then “married” off to a Muslim man.
Huma Younus was kidnapped by three men from her home Karachi in October. The men waited on her parents to leave the house before forcibly taking the young girl. She was reportedly taken to Dera Gazi Khan, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan, more than 370 miles from her home.
Huma’s forceful conversion and marriage came just a few weeks after a 15-year-old Christian girl identified as Faiza was forced to embrace Islam by her school principal.
Asma Yaqoob, was in 2018, set ablaze by his Muslim lover, Muhammad Rizwan Gujar, after a discussion about which of them should convert if they were to marry.
Asma died in a Lahore hospital, 22 April, after suffering 80 percent burns during an incident that occurred around 11 pm on Tuesday, 17 April.