By Jude Dabee Dangwam & Justine Dyikuk
- From January to February 2026, no fewer than 200 Christian girls were rescued from the forceful conversion to Islam in Bauchi State.
- Aisha, 16, formerly known as Blessing Jeremiah, was forcefully married off and is now pregnant.
- “We were told that they have since married off Blessing. How? Who collected the bride price?” – Abigail, Blessing’s Older Sister.
- Former Miss Favour Onyinechi Jude, now Fatima, a Muslim convert, was lured by an older Muslim woman.
The Bauchi State Shari’a Commission was a beehive of activities on Monday, 23 February 2026, as workers of the Commission resumed work after the weekend, alongside those with various concerns or deals to be sealed, making their way into the Commission.
In this exclusive on-the-ground report, Advocatus Africa gathered that from January to February 2026, no fewer than 200 Christian girls were rescued from alleged forceful conversion to Islam in Bauchi State.
Among those with a mind-blowing tale was Mama Hanatu Jeremiah, holding a small handbag, who managed to climb the various stairs up to the Da’awah office in Bauchi city.
Mama Hanatu Jeremiah, mother of 16-year-old Blessing, now Aisha
Da’awah is an organisation dedicated to enforcing the conversion of non-Muslims as well as teaching, upholding, and defending Islamic principles.
Meanwhile, Mama Hanatu, who is in her late 50s, has four children she takes care of after her husband died in 2010.
She was at the Shari’a Commission to know the whereabouts of her 16-year-old daughter, Blessing Jeremiah, who was allegedly converted to Islam against her wishes and separated from her mother for almost a year. She has since been named Aisha.
Aisha, formerly known as Blessing Jeremiah, as evident in her Identity Card
Preliminary findings broke the heart of the widow, who was resting on a wooden bench when a staff member of the Commission outrightly told her that “the person you are looking for has since been married and is now an expectant mother.”
She was accompanied by her daughter, Miss Abigail, Blessing’s older sister, and Pastor Monday Dasen of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Local Church Council (LCC) Sabon Kaura in Bauchi State. All left the Commission tearful, angry, and in a state of hopelessness.
Meanwhile, Advocatus Africa was live on the ground, witnessing the various exchanges between Christian parents or guardians and staff of the Commission as anger flared up like flame inside the Da’awah office, especially when questions remained unanswered from the Commission staff.
To calm frayed nerves, the heartbroken mother was referred to Hon. Aliyu Ahmed, a Sarkin Yaki (Chief of war), Traditional Ruler, who is said to be the arrowhead of all that concerns the outright forceful marriage of the minor in question.
According to Blessing’s mother, “I have been struggling with these children; their father died and left me with this kind of challenge. I should have been the one who died while he lived to handle this kind of situation; it would have been better for me.
“I didn’t know that she was married off. We have been following up and insisting on why they would forcefully convert my 16-year-old daughter into Islam?”
Her older sister, Abigail, expressed reservations about the entire process, describing it as abnormal: “I want to believe that what they have been doing here is not ordinary. I want to believe that they normally do something so that the children will even deny knowing their parents or become unwilling to even see their parents. If not, what kind of thing is this?
“We came to the Shari’a Commission today, Monday, 23 February 2026, and we were told that they have since married off Blessing. How? Who collected the bride price? Who suddenly became the parents who gave consent for them to marry off a 16-year-old girl?” She questioned while bursting into tears.
Mama Hanatu, mother of Blessing, 16, tearfully shares her frustration with the Shari’a Commission
Hon. Aliyu Ahmed, Sarkin Yaki, Emir of Lame, a newly created Emirate Council in Bauchi, is fingered as the person who married off the minor at a marriage ceremony that allegedly took place in his Palace.
According to Pastor Monday Dasen, “For some months now, we have been struggling to get this issue settled. She was taken away from the house for 3 months before we realised where she was. We insisted that she should be brought back to the house, but she came back and stayed with a Muslim woman close to their house.
“She was later taken away. Only yesterday, they told us that she was married off. We went to the Sarkin Yaki and he said the marriage has been done, and nothing he can do about it. He can only ask the husband to bring her to see her father, then they go back.”
Dasen further explained that when they questioned who received her bride price, the traditional ruler upheld that, “According to Islamic law, the bride price is not given to the parents but the girl.”
Procedure
Advocatus Africa observed the coming in and going out of dozens of men as well as women in hijabs, with some covering their faces as if in Afghanistan, continuing to troop into the Commission, who were said to be converts from Christianity.
Upon the arrival of an intending convert at the Commission, a file is picked, the officer asks the person’s name, and a new Islamic name is given to the person, alongside a new surname as the new identity of the convert, which stands.
In another development, Miss Favour Onyinechi Jude, who graduated in 2025 from Government Secondary School (GSS) Laranto (where she wrote the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), but was a student at Glorious Hope High School Jos, Laranto-Busabuji) area of Jos North Local Government Area (LGA) in Plateau State, has been confined to a “Muslim safe house,” meant for Christian converts to Islam, in the Bauchi State capital since January.
Former Miss Favour Onyinechi Jude, now Fatima, a Muslim convert
The Igbo Lady, who is a native of Idaton-North in Imo State, was said to have been lured by a Muslim woman she claimed didn’t know her but referred her to come to Bauchi and got her conversion secured.
It was a serious struggle between the Commission staff and some Christian Clerics for the “celebrated convert,” Miss Favour Onyinechi, renamed Fatima, to be allowed to go and see her sick father, who broke down while coming from Jos to Bauchi and could not make it to the Commission.
In an interview with Advocatus Africa, Miss Favour explained how she got to Bauchi and where they were kept. She also explained that she is not having the desired peace of mind where she is and cannot forsake her father.
“There is this Muslim woman who passes through our shop at Katako in Jos, whom I often greet. She helped me to get to Bauchi and explained everything to me. She told me to come and meet some people at Central Mosque, and when I came, they brought me to the Bauchi Shari’a Commission.
“When we got to the Commission, they asked about my name, and I told them. They then decided to add Fatima to my name, but they did not change my father’s name, oh! Ah, my Daddy is my Daddy, I cannot leave my father. But it is just that my Daddy is very angry with me and he wants to take me to our village in Idaton-North Imo State.”
When asked what her dream in life is, she said, “I finished my secondary school last year. My dream is to become an Accountant, but I know that my father will not be able to sponsor me to undertake higher education. He had always emphasised that I do business instead of furthering my education.
“We are 7 in number. I am the firstborn. My father is a businessman. He sells plastics at Katako market in Jos. We normally go to The Lord’s Chosen Church. We are plenty where they kept me,” she shared her story.
The father, Mr. Jude, was completely dumbfounded and could not speak to Advocatus Africa even when his daughter later sighted him, jumped at him, and embraced him. A demonstration that moved the father to tears. But he was pressured by the leadership of the Commission to return on a later date.
Advocatus Africa gathered that from January 2026 to February 2026, no fewer than 200 Christian girls were rescued from the forceful conversion to Islam in Bauchi State.
