Muslim convert stirs uproar in Nigeria

By Rafiu Ajakaye - Anadolu Agency

LAGOS

A 25-year-old daughter of a Nigerian pastor has converted to Islam, drawing the ire of her family and the country's Christians, who allege that she was hypnotized, abducted and forced to leave her former faith.

"I did it on my own. Nobody forced or enticed me to become a Muslim," Charity Uzoechina, who has since adopted the Muslim name Aishah, told the Anadolu Agency in a telephone interview.

"I converted to Islam because I love the character of the Muslims I have related with, particularly the way they behave," she said. "I have Muslim friends and I watch what they do; that enticed me to join Islam."

"I used to read the Quran when I was a Christian," Aishah added. "I always joined Muslim friends in reading the Quran, and through that I found out that it is the same one God they worship. So I embraced Islam."

A former student at the Federal Polytechnic Bida, Aishah said she had stopped going to school and had sought refuge far from the reach of her family for fear of a possible backlash.

A Sharia Court has initially entrusted her to Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, the Etsu of Nupe, a Muslim emir who has dominion over the ancient city of Bida in Nigeria's north-central Niger State.

Aishah had appealed to the court for protection from her parents, accusing the latter of posing a threat to her life and her freedom of belief.

The court later overturned the order entrusting her to the emir, but also ruled that she was old enough to decide where she lived and what faith she practiced.

Her father, Pastor Raymond Uzoechina, along with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), is currently trying to get her back into their custody.

"Am I the first one to convert to Islam in Nigeria?" Aishah asked, occasionally breaking down in tears.

Her family hails from Nigeria's southeast, a region with a small Muslim population where conversion to Islam is rare -- although a handful of others have done so in the past.

Early this year, Chief Sylvester O. Dimunah -- a monarch who serves as vice-chairman of the Council of Village Heads in Nigeria's southeastern Imo State -- converted to Islam.

Nigeria has a population of about 160 million, with up to 78 million estimated to be Muslims.

Nigeria last conducted a population census in 2006.

- Fearful

Aishah denied claims that the Etsu Nupe had "abducted, hypnotized or forced" her to convert, clarifying instead that she had actually sought refuge at the palace following threats by her father.

"It was my sole decision to run to the palace when the threats became unbearable," she recalled.

According to her, the emir initially refused to take her in because her father did not know about it. The emir immediately phoned her father to come in person and discuss the situation.

"The emir told him that I had converted to Islam based entirely on my own volition," Aishah said. "My father asked me to follow him home, but I refused."

"I told him that I would not change my faith because I had already accepted Islam," she added. "He threatened me so much that I became scared of him."

Aishah said that she had argued with her father, while the emir tried to reconcile the two.

"The emir gave him one week to come back, but he came back even before that," she recalled. "He said he would take me to somewhere that nobody would set his eyes on me. I ran back to the emir and to the Sharia Court for protection. I don't want to go back to my father because he is threatening me."

Pastor Uzoechina, Aishah's father, for his part, confirmed to the AA that the emir had invited him to discuss the matter, but insisted that his daughter had been abducted and hypnotized.

"When I got there, I met my daughter and two other women and then the emir," he recounted. "He said these women had brought my daughter to the palace and that she had embraced Islam. These women even claimed they had taken her through the rudiments of Islam and had begun looking for a school for her."

The pastor refuted accusations that he had threatened his daughter's life.

"How can I kill my daughter? That is not true," he said. "My daughter cannot make that allegation. Why should I kill her? We asked them to bring her to the court so that my lawyer could cross-examine her, but they refused."

Mr. Uzoechina said he was not convinced as to why his daughter had to stay at the Etsu Nupe's palace.

"Is Etsu Nupe the chief security officer now? They should not separate me from my daughter," he said. "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 or the CAN, or ask me to write an undertaking. Why is my daughter still in Etsu Nupe's enclave?"

Asked why he took custody of a girl he did not know, the Etsu of Nupe told the AA that he had intervened in the matter when the girl had come to his house.

"When [the father] came and I explained the situation to him, I'm afraid his response confirmed to me his daughter's fears," he said.

"It is an established rule in law that anyone who seeks protection from the law court must be granted the same," he added. "That's what happened in Aishah's case."

- Adamant

The Etsu of Nupe insisted that Aishah had refused to go home.

"The court has overturned the order granting me custody of the young lady, and yet she insists she is not going home," he said. "But I can assure you that everything will be fine because different stakeholders are now involved."

The AA has learnt that the Nigerian Presidency and the Niger State government have both intervened in the matter, following outcries by the CAN and the media frenzy that the issue has generated.

Aishah, meanwhile, has turned down suggestions that she return to her family, saying her father was acting on behalf of "some persons." She did not elaborate further or mention any names.

Asked if she would return to her family following a ruling by the Sharia Court, she said that doing so could expose her to intimidation and victimization.

"I am not going back to my father because of his recent actions," she said. "He has been threatening me, but at my age, I am free to practice the religion of my choice and so I should be left to decide."

Aishah has pleaded with her parents not to view her conversion to Islam as an act of hostility.

"I am appealing to my parents not to be angry with me. My conversion to Islam will not separate us," she said. "I still love them, even though I am here. They can come visit me and I can also visit them."

She added: "They shouldn't think my new faith will take away the love I have for them. It will not."