35 Kano women fail mass wedding test over HIV, pregnancy

35 Kano women fail mass wedding test
over HIV, pregnancy
on december 20, 2013 at 3:11 am in news
BY ABDULSALAM MUHAMMAD
KANO — Thirty-five women were, yesterday,
disqualified by the Kano State Hisbah Board from
participating in the mass wedding organised and
sponsored by the state government.
Those disqualified included 19 divorcees said to
have tested positive to HIV and 16 others said to be
pregnant.
Altogether, at least 1, 111 divorcees and widows
from the 44 local government areas in the state
were joined in matrimony at the City Central Mosque
during a brief but colourful ceremony.
* Second-time brides
It is another round of mass wedding conducted by
the Chief Imam of Kano Central Mosque, Professor
Muhammad Zaharadeen.
The event was attended by the state Deputy
Governor, Dr Umar Ganduje, along with top Islamic
clerics across the state.
However, each of the grooms signed an undertaking
not to divorce their spouses without recourse to the
board, as contravention will attract a N50,000 fine.
Addressing the couples shortly after the ceremony,
Commandant, Kano Hisbah Board, Sheik Daurawa
explained that the measure was adopted to check
rising cases of divorce in the state.
He said: “We cannot fold our arms and watch our
heritage destroyed. What we have done remains the
best in the light of several cases of divorce among
couples in the state, to halt the destruction and
bastardization of our heritage,” Daurawa said.
Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State
hosted the couples to a grand reception at the
Government House, beamed live on radio and
television stations across the country.