The Kebbi Ministry of Religious Affairs says it has resolved 1,496 marriage and community disputes in the last three years as part of efforts to promote peaceful coexistence and strengthen family values across the state.

The Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Sani Aliyu, disclosed this on Monday during a press briefing on the ministry’s activities and achievements in Birnin Kebbi.

Mr Aliyu said the ministry’s vision was to promote religious development through partnership, collaboration, and peaceful coexistence among residents.

According to him, the ministry is leveraging religion as a tool for sustaining peace, fostering mutual understanding, and driving both human and physical development in the state.

He said: “Within the last three years, the ministry registered and treated 1,496 cases involving marriage and community dispute resolution.

“The ministry also handled 45 cases of abandoned babies and reunited 189 missing children with their families. However, 52 cases of missing children remain unresolved.

“The ministry recorded 42 cases of forced marriage, 57 alleged rape cases, and seven alleged cases of homosexuality during the period under review.”

On economic empowerment, Mr Aliyu said the ministry supported small-scale business owners with N500,000 under its productive Zakat programme.

He also disclosed that more than 20,000 mental health patients benefited from free medical care provided under the Zakat and Waqf programme.

According to him, the ministry treated 114 cases of pregnancy outside wedlock, nine cases of marriages contracted after pregnancy, and 132 cases involving girls allegedly kept in houses by men without their parents’ knowledge.

Mr Aliyu said officials also handled 27 cases of women reportedly found in bushes and believed to be possessed by jinn, 169 cases involving young and married women found in hotels or guest houses, and 43 mentally ill persons who were rescued and hospitalised.

“The ministry apprehended 17 persons for smoking Indian hemp and shisha. We also handled 1,253 cases related to liquor and drug abuse, 98 court-referred matters, 37 theft cases, and 271 other cases of alleged immoral conduct,” he said.

The commissioner further said the ministry distributed Zakat worth N160 million in cash and grains valued at N10 million to vulnerable members of society.

He added that the ministry’s annual Ramadan feeding programme provided meals for about 20,000 needy persons daily throughout the fasting period.

Mr Aliyu said the ministry had continued to build the capacity of Imams and Islamic scholars through regular training and retraining programmes to enhance their professional competence.

He noted that interfaith engagements and dialogue sessions were also regularly organised to promote mutual understanding, religious tolerance, and peaceful coexistence among the people of the state.

Clarifying the misconceptions about Sharia, the commissioner said, “Sharia is meant to protect everybody’s right, dignity and fame.

“Sharia is not meant to hurt or deprive anybody of their right, but it’s meant to promote decency and morality in society with a view to ensuring a sound and decent society.

“Sharia is meant to curb moral decadence, promote decency and set the pace for people to live in accordance with the teachings of religious tenets.”

While commending Governor Nasir Idris for establishing the Ministry for Religious Affairs, Mr Aliyu recalled that the people of the state had been agitating for its establishment for over 30 years.

 (NAN)