Heart breaking incidents emerge in several parts of northern Nigeria, where young Christian girls are kidnapped, converted, and married off, according to Truth Nigeria. The cases, reported between 2024 and 2025 in Kano, Yobe, Adamawa and Kaduna states, raised concerns over forced conversions, child marriage and weak enforcement of child protection laws.
In December 2025, 15-year-old Ummi Tambaya went missing from her home in Rogo County, Kano State. Weeks later, her family traced her to the custody of a Hisbah official who claimed she had converted willingly and rejected contact with her parents, according to SaharaReporters as cited by Truth Nigeria. Relatives of the abducted girl notified security agencies, but authorities had not resolved the matter as of publication.
Similar reports emerged in Yobe and Adamawa states. In Yobe, 15-year-old Cecilia Mathias was abducted, converted, and forced into marriage with a much older man, while in Adamawa, 16-year-old Georgia Miracle faced a similar ordeal.
Rights and women’s advocates told Truth Nigeria that such issues often follow a recurring pattern in which underage Christian girls are groomed through emotional pressure and material inducements, gradually isolated from their families, and later removed from their homes. They said that religious structures then legitimise the conversions and marriages.
Former Kaduna-based cleric Rev. David Ayuba Azzaman said earlier that state-backed religious bodies frequently shield such practices. Although Nigeria’s Child Rights Act prohibits marriage under 18, enforcement was reported as inconsistent in Sharia-governed states, leaving families with limited legal remedies.