Cameroonian Muslims, Minister Advise Fellow Believers Not To Marry Abducted School Girls

Following a recent video posted online by Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, threatening to sell the abducted 276 secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State, some Muslims in Cameroon and the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakari, are reportedly calling on their fellow believers not to marry any of these girls should they be offered to them.

According to a report on AriseNaija.com, no other topic in recent years has generated a heated debate in Cameroon as much as the activities of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram.

It was gathered that the debate took on a new dimension some media reports suggested that the over two hundred school girls kidnapped from a school in northeastern Nigeria on April 14 might had been transferred to Cameroon and Chad.

The reports also speculated that the kidnapped teenagers might have been forced to marry Islamic extremists.

This is after Shekau warned in a video recording that he would sell the girls at the marketplace. Some sources in Nigeria said a bride price of $12 (9 Euros) was all that one needed.



* One of the border roads being used to link Nigeria and Cameroon

As a result of this, it was stated that Muslims in Cameroon have been calling on fellow believers not to marry any of these girls should they be offered to them.

According to Muslim leader, Nchotu Soule, anyone seen acting suspiciously with a girl should be reported to the authorities.

He said: “The prophet Mohammed insists that Islam is a religion of peace. Any true faithful of Islam will want to reject anything that comes from the Boko Haram.

“They are using our Muslim brothers here to be able to carry out their activities.”



* A concerned mother protesting against the kidnapped schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State

It could be recalled that sometime ago, the Cameroonian authorities warned that Boko Haram is keen on recruiting members from Cameroon.

The situation worries many citizens such as Silas Mao, a university student in Yaounde.

He said very little was being done to stop Boko Haram. “If Cameroon and Nigeria decide, they can stop Boko Haram because I know that they are not more powerful than these states,” Mao said.

He also said he was sure the Islamist militant group had a base in Cameroon.

“If nothing is done, we will find ourselves in a situation like the one in Arab states where such people dictate what is done,” Mao warned.

Commenting on the situation, Cameroon’s Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakari, said he was shocked by accusations that Cameroon was not collaborating with Nigeria to free the girls from their captors.

Bakari said that Cameroon will never ever serve as a support base for destabilisation activities towards other countries.”

The minister also added that Cameroon was a victim of what he called ‘rather unfortunate and heinous crimes’ in Nigeria.