The Yobe State Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ethical Reorientation and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have denied reports that 30 Christian teenage girls were abducted and forcibly converted to Islam.
The claims, which surfaced from an online news outlet, alleged that the state ministry was involved in the abductions and conversions in 2019.
In a statement to journalists in Damaturu on Monday, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Alhaji Yusuf Hassan Yusuf, condemned the report as unfounded and harmful, intended to incite division among religious communities in the state.
He firmly denied any involvement, emphasizing that coercion in religious conversion or marriage is contrary to Islamic principles.
Similarly, CAN Secretary in Yobe State, Reverend Ibrahim Kure Abagu, rejected the allegations, expressing astonishment that such events could happen without the knowledge of relevant stakeholders or security agencies.
