The conversion to
Islam of 25-year-old Charity Uzoechina, daughter of Pastor Raymond
Uzoechina of Redeem Christian Church of God, Kwankwashe, Suleja,
continues to generate controversy.
Her
father accused the Estu Nupe Alhaji Yahaya Abubukar, of hypnotizing his
daughter, who has since changed her name to A’isha, to embrace Islam.
A’isha, who hails from Asaba, Delta State, came to Abuja at the age of
10 when her father relocated from Lagos.
After her secondary
school education at Army Day Secondary School Asokoro, Abuja she got
admission into Federal Polytechnic, Bida to read Public Administration.
She, however, withdrew from the course in her first year. She embraced
Islam on February 15, 2013. A’isha said since her family relocated to
Suleja, Niger State, she has been in the midst of Muslims, which
accorded her the opportunity to have several Muslims friends and learnt a
lot about Islam.
The travails of A’isha began when she ran to the
Estu Nupe’s palace in Bida on March 1, this year to seek protection
against any aggression she may face should her family know about her
conversion to Islam. This led to a controversy that is still ongoing,
with her father accusing the traditional ruler of kidnapping his
daughter. Along the line, several meetings were organized between A’isha
and her father Pastor Uzoechina and his daughter at the instance of the
Estu Nupe, who also involved some members of the Christian Association
of Nigeria (CAN).
But despite that, A’isha refused to follow her
father, alleging that he has threatened to deal with her by taking her
away to a place that she will not be able to practice her new religion.
A’isha has taken the matter to a Shariah court in Bida and the court is
expected to rule on August 1, 2013 whether or not the 25-year-old should
be released to her parents or not. She speaks exclusively to Weekly
Trust.
Excerpts: Weekly Trust: What is your name?
Aisha
Uzoechina: I was formerly known as Charity Uzoechina and now A’isha
Uzoechina. Why the change of name? I changed my name because I have
accepted Islam.
What brought you to Bida?
I came to Bida in 2012 to read Public Administration at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida.
Are you still a student of Federal Polytechnic Bida?
No, I am not. I have withdrawn from the school.
Did you go back home?
No,
I did not go home. At the beginning I was planning to go back home,
because I wanted to tell my father that I have converted to Islam. When I
converted, I was afraid to tell my parents, because of the way my
father would behave. I know he will not take it lightly with me. So, for
that I refused to go back home.
Did anybody force or enticed you to join Islam?
I
joined Islam on my own. Nobody enticed me with anything to join Islam.
What informed your decision to join Islam? I converted to Islam because I
love the character of Muslims, particularly the way they behave. You
know Muslims believe in God. I have Muslim friends and I watch what they
do, that enticed me to join Islam. I used to read Qur’an when I was a
Christian. I always join them to read Qur’an and through that I found
out that it is the same one God they worship. So I embraced Islam.
How did your father come to know about your change of faith?
When
I ran to the palace, I told you, it was very difficult before I could
see the Emir. When I saw him, the emir refused to accept me, because my
father did not know about it. He, therefore, collected my father’s
number from me and called him. The following day my father came and said
he wanted to see me. When we met we talked one on one.
What did you tell him?
Well
the emir told him that I have converted to Islam. When my father talked
to me, he said let’s go home, but I refused. I told him that I will not
change my faith, because I have already accepted Islam and this is
where I want to stay. He, therefore, threatened me so much so that I
became scared of him.
What did he do to you amounting to a threat?
In
the first place you know, I put on Hijab (veil), he said I should
remove the Hijab. He was angry and used some harsh words on me,
directing that I should remove the Hijab, but I refused. He threatened
to take me to a village where nobody will set his eyes on me. So I
became scared of him, therefore I refused to follow him. That is it.
Did the emir intervene?
The
emir gave him one week to come back, but he came back even before it
reached one week. He said he must take me home. He will not take me to
our house, but he’ll take me to somewhere that nobody will set his eyes
on me. I quickly ran back to the emir and to the Shari’a Court for
protection. I don’t want to go back to my father, because he is
threatening me.
How did you come to know about the Shari’a Court?
I found out from people. I went to them on my own to formally lodge my complaint.
Why Shari’a Court?
They
have to protect me. You know when you take a case to court over life
threatening issue, the court must protect you. That is it.
Did your father come back after you refused to follow him?
He came back. He kept on coming back. The other time he even threatened to bring some people to kidnap me.
Is it true that at a time your father came with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) officials to you?
Yes. Is it true that you also went to the Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI)?
Yes.
Why did you go to JNI?
I
told you and I’ll still repeat it, though I don’t want to repeat my
words again. I want them to intervene on my behalf, the threat is too
much. Now I can’t go anywhere, I cannot even continue with my schooling.
I cannot do anything because of the way he has been threatening me. He
is still bringing people up till now to keep watch on me.
How do you know that your father has assigned people to keep watch on you?
There
was a time that I wanted to go out, information came to me that my
father was around and I had to stay back since I don’t want him to take
me away. I know that if I gout anytime,I he’ll pick me up.
How did you come to know about JNI?
I have been reading about them. That is why I went to them.
How did you present your case to JNI?
I
wrote to them seeking for their intervention, because I do not know how
to go about convincing my father. I also learnt that the emir wanted to
hand me over to my father, because the burden of my case is becoming
too much for him to bear.
If your father should promise to allow
you to practice your new faith, will you go with him? I’ll not. In a
family that you are the only Muslim, how can you practice in that house?
You
know when he (my father) came along with my mother the other time, his
actions and the harsh words he used, even if I go back home, my life
will not be secured in his hand. That is why I said I’ll not go.
Did you start learning anything about Islam?
Yes, I started learning how to perform ablution. I have learnt how to recite Surah Al-Fatihah, I am now in my second surah.
Do you pray five times a day?
Yes I do. I am even fasting now. I have been fasting since the beginning of the month of Ramadan.
What is your massage to people wanting to join Islam?
I
have only one massage. Islam is good. Muslims are truthful, everything
they say, they believe in God and they carry people along. Once a person
converted to Islam, he’ll be carried along until he is strong to stand
on his own.
What is your appeal to your parent?
I am
appealing to my parents not to be angry with me. My conversion to Islam
will not separate us. I still love them, even though I am here. They can
come and visit me and I can also visit them. They shouldn’t think my
new faith will take away the love I have for them. It will not. I am
very sorry
Source: Daily Trust
Read Original Story below
When Miss Charity (Aisha) Uzoechina, 24-year-old daughter of a Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, left their Abuja home to further her studies at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State, her parents had no inkling that it was the beginning of many days of sorrow.
Instead of the formal education she traveled to acquire, the young Christian girl is now allegedly pursuing her new faith of Islam at the palace of the Etsu Nupe.
For the parents, the pain is not just that Charity has abandoned her Christian faith, but that she now stands completely separated from them.
She was alleged to have converted to Islam on her own volition and changed her name to Aisha.
However, contrary to these claims, Pastor Raymond Uzoechina is insisting that his daughter is a victim of forced conversion to Islam.
The RCCG Pastor has, therefore, called on security agencies to investigate activities at the palace of the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, to ensure that many people there had not been forced to convert to Islam and held against their will.
He said: “Apart from my daughter, there are so many people at the palace. There is need for the police to investigate and ensure that the people are not suffering the fate of my daughter”.
Pastor Uzoechina believes that his daughter was kidnapped and hypnotised.
Narrating the genesis of the problem, he said it all started on March 1 and 2 when he got a call from an aide of the emir, asking him to come to the palace.
On getting to the palace in Bida, he said he met his daughter with two other women, adding “the man said these women brought my daughter to the palace that she has embraced Islam and she has also been withdrawn from school. Those women even claimed they have taken her through the rudiments of Islam and have started looking for a school for her. At this juncture, I demanded that I am going home with her. But the man declined, saying only the emir has the power to allow the girl go with me. They took me to the emir but the emir refused my plea, saying I should come back next week.”
He continued that on March 4, two people who claimed to be from the Bida Sharia Court emerged with his daughter with a folded paper and asked him to sign but he refused.
Pastor Uzoechina got the greatest shock of his life when he tried to take his daughter but was told that she was now under the custody of the Sharia Court.
The Sharia Court 1, which said it arrived at the decision because the girl claimed her father could kill her following her change of faith, also accused the defendant (Pastor Uzoechina) of shunning an invitation to appear before it to defend himself.
“At this juncture, this honourable court hereby orders that the custody of the plaintiff be entrusted in the hand of Etsu Nupe for the time being and the Etsu Nupe should employ a qualified Islamic scholar who will be teaching her and showing her what the Islamic customs is all about and the plaintiff can even be watching and selecting a man of her choice whom she will want to marry as her partner”, the court held.
In this state of confusion, Uzoechina said he had appealed the decision of the Sharia Court 1 through his lawyer, Anthony Agbonlahor.
The lawyer also petitioned the Chief Judge of Niger State, complaining about the conduct of the judge of the Sharia Court 1, Justice Abdulkadir Idris, saying that the court had no right to take custody of the girl.
“Contrary to the principle of natural justice vis- a-vis fair hearing, our client was not served either with the court summons/processes or hearing notice. The case was filed on March 4; the case was heard March 4 and judgment delivered on the same day. In fact, judgment was also executed on the same date. The question is: why the urgency?”, he wondered.
Also, Pastor Uzoechina is still bemused over the fate of his daughter as well as the decision of the court.
According to him, “They (sharia court) have fixed Thursday, August 1 for ruling on our appeal that they don’t have jurisdiction. You can’t judge a Christian in a Muslim court. I am appealing to them to vacate the judgment because they don’t have jurisdiction.”
How can I kill my daughter?”
Concerning her daughter’s alleged fear that he would kill her, he said “That is not true. My daughter cannot make that allegation. Why should I kill her? We asked them to bring her to the court so that my lawyer can cross-examine her but they refused.
“If she has converted to Islam, must she practice at the Etsu Nupe’s palace? Is Etsu Nupe the chief security officer now? They should not separate me from my daughter. She has stayed in the palace for six months. If they say I will harm her, let them release her to the Inspector General of Police, leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN or ask me to write an undertaking. Why is my daughter still under Etsu Nupe’s enclave? I am only talking about my daughter; there are so many people at the palace. There is need for the police to investigate and ensure that other people are not suffering the fate of my daughter. They did not allow my wife to see my daughter when she visited the
palace.”
Be that as it may, the Etsu Nupe is not in any way moved by the Pastor’s arguements, instead the emirate has produced legal documents where Charity reportedly said she had converted to Islam and alleged that his father could kill her for the action hence the need to seek protection from the Palace and the Sharia Court, which the court granted.
The Etsu Nupe has refused to release the lady to his father citing the sharia court ruling.
The emirate also absolved itself of the allegations of kidnapping and hypnotizing the young Christian girl.
It said in a statement that Miss Uzoechina approached the monarch for protection over her change of faith from Christianity to Islam on February 15.
It continued that “the royal father invited the father of the girl for talks, with the hope of reconciling them. On March 2, the father came to the palace and was taken before His Royal Highness. It was at His Royal Highness chamber that the father came face to face with his daughter. After discussions with the girl and her father, the Etsu Nupe asked the girl to go back home with her father to resolve the matter as a family.
“The girl refused to go home with her father fearing that the father may harm her going by the encounter at the Etsu Nupe’s palace. The girl left the palace and approached a court in Bida for protection, a request which the court granted the girl. The girl has since been in the custody of the court in Bida. Her reason was that her father insulted her and she was scared that he may harm her because of his utterances during their short meeting.
As it stands not, it will take only the court for the young girl to be re-united with her family. The long awaited August 1, 2013 ruling of the Bida Sharia Court 1 may not even be the end, but beginning of a long legal battle
Read Original Story below
Pastor Battles Etsu Nupe Over Daughter’s “Forced Conversion” To Islam
When Miss Charity (Aisha) Uzoechina, 24-year-old daughter of a Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, left their Abuja home to further her studies at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State, her parents had no inkling that it was the beginning of many days of sorrow.
Instead of the formal education she traveled to acquire, the young Christian girl is now allegedly pursuing her new faith of Islam at the palace of the Etsu Nupe.
For the parents, the pain is not just that Charity has abandoned her Christian faith, but that she now stands completely separated from them.
She was alleged to have converted to Islam on her own volition and changed her name to Aisha.
However, contrary to these claims, Pastor Raymond Uzoechina is insisting that his daughter is a victim of forced conversion to Islam.
The RCCG Pastor has, therefore, called on security agencies to investigate activities at the palace of the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, to ensure that many people there had not been forced to convert to Islam and held against their will.
He said: “Apart from my daughter, there are so many people at the palace. There is need for the police to investigate and ensure that the people are not suffering the fate of my daughter”.
Pastor Uzoechina believes that his daughter was kidnapped and hypnotised.
Narrating the genesis of the problem, he said it all started on March 1 and 2 when he got a call from an aide of the emir, asking him to come to the palace.
On getting to the palace in Bida, he said he met his daughter with two other women, adding “the man said these women brought my daughter to the palace that she has embraced Islam and she has also been withdrawn from school. Those women even claimed they have taken her through the rudiments of Islam and have started looking for a school for her. At this juncture, I demanded that I am going home with her. But the man declined, saying only the emir has the power to allow the girl go with me. They took me to the emir but the emir refused my plea, saying I should come back next week.”
He continued that on March 4, two people who claimed to be from the Bida Sharia Court emerged with his daughter with a folded paper and asked him to sign but he refused.
Pastor Uzoechina got the greatest shock of his life when he tried to take his daughter but was told that she was now under the custody of the Sharia Court.
The Sharia Court 1, which said it arrived at the decision because the girl claimed her father could kill her following her change of faith, also accused the defendant (Pastor Uzoechina) of shunning an invitation to appear before it to defend himself.
“At this juncture, this honourable court hereby orders that the custody of the plaintiff be entrusted in the hand of Etsu Nupe for the time being and the Etsu Nupe should employ a qualified Islamic scholar who will be teaching her and showing her what the Islamic customs is all about and the plaintiff can even be watching and selecting a man of her choice whom she will want to marry as her partner”, the court held.
In this state of confusion, Uzoechina said he had appealed the decision of the Sharia Court 1 through his lawyer, Anthony Agbonlahor.
The lawyer also petitioned the Chief Judge of Niger State, complaining about the conduct of the judge of the Sharia Court 1, Justice Abdulkadir Idris, saying that the court had no right to take custody of the girl.
“Contrary to the principle of natural justice vis- a-vis fair hearing, our client was not served either with the court summons/processes or hearing notice. The case was filed on March 4; the case was heard March 4 and judgment delivered on the same day. In fact, judgment was also executed on the same date. The question is: why the urgency?”, he wondered.
Also, Pastor Uzoechina is still bemused over the fate of his daughter as well as the decision of the court.
According to him, “They (sharia court) have fixed Thursday, August 1 for ruling on our appeal that they don’t have jurisdiction. You can’t judge a Christian in a Muslim court. I am appealing to them to vacate the judgment because they don’t have jurisdiction.”
How can I kill my daughter?”
Concerning her daughter’s alleged fear that he would kill her, he said “That is not true. My daughter cannot make that allegation. Why should I kill her? We asked them to bring her to the court so that my lawyer can cross-examine her but they refused.
“If she has converted to Islam, must she practice at the Etsu Nupe’s palace? Is Etsu Nupe the chief security officer now? They should not separate me from my daughter. She has stayed in the palace for six months. If they say I will harm her, let them release her to the Inspector General of Police, leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN or ask me to write an undertaking. Why is my daughter still under Etsu Nupe’s enclave? I am only talking about my daughter; there are so many people at the palace. There is need for the police to investigate and ensure that other people are not suffering the fate of my daughter. They did not allow my wife to see my daughter when she visited the
palace.”
Be that as it may, the Etsu Nupe is not in any way moved by the Pastor’s arguements, instead the emirate has produced legal documents where Charity reportedly said she had converted to Islam and alleged that his father could kill her for the action hence the need to seek protection from the Palace and the Sharia Court, which the court granted.
The Etsu Nupe has refused to release the lady to his father citing the sharia court ruling.
The emirate also absolved itself of the allegations of kidnapping and hypnotizing the young Christian girl.
It said in a statement that Miss Uzoechina approached the monarch for protection over her change of faith from Christianity to Islam on February 15.
It continued that “the royal father invited the father of the girl for talks, with the hope of reconciling them. On March 2, the father came to the palace and was taken before His Royal Highness. It was at His Royal Highness chamber that the father came face to face with his daughter. After discussions with the girl and her father, the Etsu Nupe asked the girl to go back home with her father to resolve the matter as a family.
“The girl refused to go home with her father fearing that the father may harm her going by the encounter at the Etsu Nupe’s palace. The girl left the palace and approached a court in Bida for protection, a request which the court granted the girl. The girl has since been in the custody of the court in Bida. Her reason was that her father insulted her and she was scared that he may harm her because of his utterances during their short meeting.
As it stands not, it will take only the court for the young girl to be re-united with her family. The long awaited August 1, 2013 ruling of the Bida Sharia Court 1 may not even be the end, but beginning of a long legal battle
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