central Nigeria after she was reportedly abducted by an Islamic leader as religious tensions spread in the region.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a UK based human rights watchdog which obtained documents about her situation, said Rejoice Gwammikat Daniel Chirdap disappeared September 12 during a visit to her father’s house in Kagadama area, part of the mostly Muslim town of Yelwa, where hunderds of people died last year in religious violence.
"After failing to find her, Rejoice’s family reported her disappearance to the Yelwa Divisional Police Office on September 14. [However] the next day the family received a letter from the Bauchi State Shari’ah Commission informing them it had given custody of Rejoice to Imam Yakubu of Kagadama, Yelwa," CSW told BosNewsLife.
The family believes however that the girl was never in the Commission’s hands and that the region’s Imam took her to the Local Government Area of Asere located on the border between the Bauchi and Kano states, CSW added.
PLEADING FOR ASSISTANCE
Ponfa Maikano, Rejoice’s stepfather, reportedly wrote to the Christian Association of Nigeria, saying his stepdaughter had been ‘stolen from her father’s house’ and added: "Please come to our assistance to retrieve our daughter for us."
Police officials told the family Thursday, September 22, that the Imam has so far refused to handover the child, CSW said.
"The family is getting increasingly desperate and worries for Rejoice’s wellbeing. They are particularly dismayed by the fact the police have not taken more vigorous action to recover their daughter." It was difficult to reach police officials for comment, but human rights watchers have criticized the perceived slow prosecution of militants.
Human rights watchers say the abduction of Rejoice is the latest in several cases of reported Christian disappearances and raises fears that the incident could potentially spark a larger conflict. "Sources on the ground also informed CSW of an increase in the disappearances of Christian children in Katsina State," the organization said, although no numbers were given.
CONCERN ABOUT WHEREABOUTS
"We are very concerned for Rejoice’s whereabouts and are doing all we can to help get her back to her family. It is vital that such disappearances are dealt with in a vigorous manner by the police in order to prevent an increase of tension in notoriously volatile areas of northern [and central] Nigeria," said CSW National Director Stuart Windsor.
News of the abduction came as news emerged that Muslim male students at the Federal University of Technology in the town of Minna in Niger State attacked and injured some Christian female students for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code. "Two women in particular are said to have been seriously injured in the attack, and when Christian male students attempted to assist them, they too were severely beaten," CSW said.
"Efforts to gain further information on the incident have been hampered by the fact that Christians in the area have been severely intimidated," the group claimed.
INCREASED VIOLENCE
Religious violence increased in Nigeria since 1999 in especially several northern and central states as they began to introduce the Islamic, or ‘Shariah’ Penal Code. Analysts have linked the violence to both religious and political aspirations among Muslim militants and officials.
The respected human rights group Human Rights Watch estimates that since 2004, hundreds of people were killed in inter-communal fighting between Muslims and Christians in and around the town of Yelwa and the southern part of Plateau State, raising the death toll in this region to at least up to 3,000 in the last four years.
Some church sources say the death toll over this period could be as high as 10,000 while the Committee of Rehabilitation and Reconciliation of Internally Displaced People reportedly has said that over 50,000 people died in religious violence. It remains unclear why the death toll figures are different, but analysts suggest that reliable information is difficult to obtain. (With Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Nigeria)
