ABUJA—APART from his daughter, Miss Charity (Aisha) Uzoechina, Pastor Raymond Uzoechina has 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.

“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 told Vanguard onphone, yesterday.

He spoke ahead of the August 1, 2013 expected ruling of the Bida Sharia Court 1 on whether or not 24-year-old Charity (Aisha) Uzoechina should be released to her parents.
Charity left their Abuja home to further her studies at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State recently. According to reports, she has not returned home since March. She has allegedly been at the palace of the Etsu Nupe on her own volition after converting to Islam and changing her name to Aisha.

Pastor Uzoechina is claiming that his daughter was kidnapped and hypnotised and could never abandon the Christian faith for Islam. But the Etsu Nupe argued otherwise and produced legal documents where his daughtersaid 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.

Consequently, the Etsu Nupe refused to releasethe lady to Uzoechina, a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, citingthe sharia court ruling.
Asked how far the matter had gone, the pastorsaid: “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?
On allegations that he could kill his daughter over conversion from Christianity to Islam, 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.”
Genesis of the matter
Pastor Uzoechina said the matter, which is now causing a big row among the Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor-led CAN, the Bida Emirate and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, started on March 1 and 2 when he got acall from an aide of the emir, asking him to come to the palace.
At the palace in Bida, he said he met his daughter with two other women. “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 theemir 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.”

On March 4, he said two people who claimed to be from the Bida Sharia Court emerged withhis daughter with a folded paper and asked him to sign but he refused. He tried to take his daughter but was told that she was now under the custody of the Sharia Court.
The Sharia Court 1 said it arrived at the decision because the girl claimed her father could kill her following her change of faith. It also said that the defendant (Pastor Uzoechina) shunned an invitation to appear before it to defend himself, adding: “At this juncture, this honourable court hereby orders that the custody of the plaintiff be entrusted inthe 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.

careytommy: What is so difficult for the esu of nupe to release a 24 yr old who they claim converted on her volition.

At the palace in Bida, he said he
met his daughter with two other
women. “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
theemir 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.”

careytommy: What is so difficult for the esu of nupe to release a 24 yr old who they claim converted on her volition.

AbdH:
Isn't it obvious that the girl refuses to follow her dad home because she knows how intolerant her Christian dad is of people of other faith..whether they are family or not?
Christians say that Muslims don't want to be Christians because they will be killed by Muslims while I believe that Christians don't want to be Muslims because they will either be killed or turned to outcasts by Christians.
I still maintain that Muslims are more tolerant than Christians and I advise that the girl should not go with her dad unless she wants to die in regret.

true2god: I think the etsu nupe should be charged for kidnap and unlawful detention. Where on earth can this happen if not the northern part of Nigeria.

I cant imagine an obi of Onitsha detaining a fulani girl on the pretense that she has converted to christianity. She is free to convert to Islam but y detain her in ur house\palace so that y can apply yerima-style on her after hypnotizing her.

Islam sucks!

AbdH:
Isn't it obvious that the girl refuses to follow her dad home because she knows how intolerant her Christian dad is of people of other faith..whether they are family or not?
Christians say that Muslims don't want to be Christians because they will be killed by Muslims while I believe that Christians don't want to be Muslims because they will either be killed or turned to outcasts by Christians.
I still maintain that Muslims are more tolerant than Christians and I advise that the girl should not go with her dad unless she wants to die in regret.

AbdH:
Isn't it obvious that the girl refuses to follow her dad home because she knows how intolerant her Christian dad is of people of other faith..whether they are family or not?
Christians say that Muslims don't want to be Christians because they will be killed by Muslims while I believe that Christians don't want to be Muslims because they will either be killed or turned to outcasts by Christians.
I still maintain that Muslims are more tolerant than Christians and I advise that the girl should not go with her dad unless she wants to die in regret.