Family accuses Kano Hisbah of converting, marrying off missing Plateau teen

The family of a 17-year-old girl from Plateau State has accused the Kano State Hisbah Board of forcibly converting their missing daughter to Islam and marrying her off, alleging a coordinated effort involving forged documents and identity falsification.

In a petition dated May 6, 2026 and addressed to the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, the family of Jinkai Simon, a native of Pankshin Local Government Area, alleged that the teenager was taken to Kano after disappearing in Zaria and subsequently handed over to the Hisbah Board.

Jinkai, a student of St. Bartholomew’s Secondary School in Wusasa, Zaria, was last seen on March 9 after leaving the home of her elder sister, Jennifer Simon, in the Kuregu area of Zaria for school.

She was reportedly last seen in the company of a neighbour identified as Ruqaiya, who later told the family that Jinkai had converted to Islam and been taken to Kano.

The family, through their lawyer, alleged that Hisbah officials changed the girl’s name from Jinkai Simon to Aisha Sani and married her to a man identified as Abdulsamad.

They further alleged that the board falsified documents to alter her age from 17 to 19, including facilitating an affidavit sworn before a Kano State High Court in which she declared herself to be 19 years old.

“The Hisbah Board, upon receiving the girl, changed her name from Jinkai Simon to Aisha Sani and married her off to one Abdulsamad,” the petition read. It added that consent documents purportedly signed by the parents were forged to facilitate the process.

The family has called on police authorities to investigate the matter and secure the teenager’s return. Copies of the petition were forwarded to the Inspector-General of Police, the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Wusasa, Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria, and the Kaduna State Youth Wing of CAN.