An 18-year-old orphaned girl has reportedly fled her neighborhood in Dan Marke, Dan Musa Local Government Area of Katsina State, after her guardians allegedly accepted a marriage proposal from a notorious bandit chief who threatened to burn down the whole village if his demand was rejected.
The girl, recognized as Amina Sulaiman, disclosed this in a video interview in Hausa, revealed on Friday by the Civilian Joint Task Force workplace in Funtua, Katsina State.
In the interview, Amina mentioned she had repeatedly rejected the marriage proposal, insisting that she would fairly die than marry the armed legal.
“I instructed them I couldn’t marry him and had beforehand instructed him that I didn’t love him. During a kind of encounters, he struck me on the shoulder, and since then, I’ve been unable to carry heavy objects with that arm,” she mentioned.
She additional claimed that, regardless of understanding the hazard she confronted, her guardians despatched her again to speak her rejection to the armed legal personally.
“They instructed me to go and inform him myself, despite the fact that they knew he might kill me. That was why I left and got here right here. I might fairly die than marry him,” she mentioned.
When requested whether or not she needed to return to her village, Amina rejected the suggestion, saying she most popular to stay alone fairly than be pressured into marriage with the bandit chief.
“I might fairly proceed residing right here alone. I’ll by no means marry a bandit who survives by participating in legal actions,” she mentioned.
The alleged threat to burn down the whole village if the marriage demand was rejected highlights the extent of intimidation and coercion reportedly confronted by residents of susceptible communities in components of Katsina State.
The incident additionally raises issues concerning the security of susceptible women and the usage of violence and threats by armed teams to impose their will on rural communities.
