By Truthnigeria Staff
A devastated mother in Nigeria’s northeast is pleading for her daughter’s return, threatening to take her own life if her child remains trapped in a nightmare of forced conversion and underage marriage.
Haina Miracle, a 43-year-old Christian widow and restaurant owner in Jimeta, Yola County, Adamawa State, has spent days in anguish since her 16-year-old daughter, Georgia, vanished on March 13, 2025.
Georgia, a recent high school graduate learning tailoring skills, disappeared from their home without warning. “We searched everywhere—relatives, friends, neighbors. No one knew where she was,” said Gambo Hananiah, Haina’s younger brother. The family’s desperate search took a shocking turn two days later when a local Islamic leader, Wakilin Mai Jimila, summoned Haina to Magistrate Court 4 in Yola, the capital of Adamawa. There, they discovered Georgia had filed a lawsuit against her mother.
A Coerced Courtroom Drama
Presiding Judge Abubakar Diddat confronted Haina with allegations that she had beaten Georgia, burned her clothes, and threatened her life for wanting to convert to Islam. But when pressed, Georgia faltered.
“She told the court, ‘My mother didn’t beat me. I just want to marry [Auwal] Salihu, and she won’t allow it because he’s Muslim,’” Hananiah recounted.
The judge, noting inconsistencies in Georgia’s claims, acknowledged her youth—16—as too early for marriage or independence. Instead of reuniting her with her family, however, Judge Diddat recommended mediation between Christian and Muslim elders. Shockingly, the court’s registrar placed Georgia in the custody of Adamawa Concerned Citizens (ACC), a Muslim-majority group accused of systematically converting underage girls and arranging child marriages.
Who Told You 18 Is the Limit?
At a tense meeting on March 19, Haina and Hananiah demanded Georgia’s return, citing her age and Nigeria’s Child Rights Act, which prohibits marriage under 18. ACC representatives dismissed their concerns. Gambo Nakuru, an ACC leader, insisted, “She chose Islam willingly. It’s her right.” Hajiya Aisha, the woman housing Georgia, was more blunt: “Who told you 18 is the limit? We’ve Islamized and married off younger girls.”
Groomed and Manipulated
Haina traces her daughter’s ordeal to Auwal Salihu, the 32-year-old owner of the tailoring shop where Georgia trained. “He showered her with gifts, distracting her from her work,” Haina said. “I warned her to focus on her studies and university plans. She agreed—then vanished.” Days later, Haina faced surreal accusations in court. “They coached Georgia to lie, claiming I abused her,” she said. “But in front of the judge, she admitted I never beat her. She just wants to marry Salihu.”
A Mother’s Desperation
Haina, who lost her husband in 2015, has raised Georgia alone, instilling Christian values amid rising religious tensions in Adamawa. Now, she accuses ACC and Salihu of exploiting her daughter’s vulnerability. “They’re stealing her childhood,” she said. “They’ll force her into marriage, erase her faith, and I can’t save her.” Georgia has already been renamed Aisha, a symbolic erasure of her Christian identity. “Nowhere in the constitution is it allowed for a 16-year-old to be married,” Haina added.
Groomed and Taken: The Fight for Queen Elizabeth Ayuba’s Freedom
Georgia’s case mirrors a broader pattern. Queen Elizabeth Ayuba’s ordeal began when she was just 15, a student at Government Girls Secondary School, Kawo, Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.
According to her elder brother, John Mark Musa, “She was groomed by Suleiman Mohammad, who started following her under the guise of friendship while she was still a minor.” Despite family warnings, Suleiman continued pursuing her, introducing her to Islamic teachings through a Dawah council in Pambegua, Kaduna State.
In January 2024, after the Christmas break, Queen Elizabeth left for school but never returned.
Her family suspected Suleiman and reported the case to authorities. “We later discovered she had been taken to a Sharia court, where they claimed she willingly converted to Islam and was renamed Fatima Ayuba,” Musa said.
After months of struggle, she was briefly returned to her family but repeatedly ran away. “Each time we got her back, they found a way to manipulate her again,” he added. By November 2024, she called her father to say she was married to Suleiman. Despite repeated attempts to secure justice, authorities have shielded him.
Northern Nigeria’s History of Sexual Grooming of Christian Girls
Rev. David Ayuba Azzaman told TruthNigeria that over 20 cases of Christian girls held in government-controlled shelters across Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, and Kano have been documented. “State governments are funding organizations like the Dawah council and Islamic Propagation Centres,” Azzaman said. “These groups target Christian girls from poor backgrounds, seducing them into Islam and forced marriages.”
A Nigeria Police Force source in Yobe corroborated the scale, revealing over 300 cases of Christian girls “held and groomed for marriage to Muslims.” Local Christian leaders report a systematic tactic: Muslim men groom girls with gifts, pressure them to convert, and use groups like ACC to legitimize underage unions. “This is abduction disguised as choice,” said Reverend Daniel Musa, a clergy member advocating for Georgia’s return.
TruthNigeria has also reported three cases of Christian minors seduced and married to Muslims without parental consent. Two of the incidents occurred in Yobe. Read about them here and here.
Silence from Authorities
Despite Nigeria’s Child Rights Act and international laws prohibiting child marriage, Adamawa officials have declined to intervene. Magistrate Diddat’s ruling, activists argue, reflects systemic bias in a region where Islamic courts often override secular law.
For Haina, each day without Georgia deepens her despair. “She’s all I have,” she whispered, clutching a photo of her daughter. “If they don’t return her, I’ll end my life. What else is left?”
