Kaduna residents contract ’emergency marriages’ to beat curfew

Several marriage ceremonies were contracted Thursday night in Kaduna State in a bid to beat the 24 hours curfew imposed by the state government which came into effect Thursday midnight.

Daily Trust gathered that Islamic wedding Fatiha earlier scheduled for either Friday, 26 March, 2020 or Saturday, 27 March, 2020 were rushed on Thursday nights around Kabala Costain and Unguwan Shanu in Kaduna.

Our correspondents gathered that the brides were quickly taken to their husband’s houses on Thursday night, ignoring other cultural rites peculiar to the Hausa/Fulani customs due to the state government’s restrictions on social gatherings.

A relative of a groom in Kabala Costain, Aisha Ibrahim said, “we were only called on phone and notified that the marriage has been contracted and that the bride has been taken to her husband’s house. In view of the stay-at-home order, we already knew that there would be no need for a gathering.”

At Unguwan Shanu, Hafsah Hamisu told our correspondent that marriages were contracted using rechargeable lanterns due to lack of electricity on Thursday.

“Some marriages were contracted after Maghrib (after sunset) prayers, others after Isah (night-time) prayers because dates had been fixed and any postponement will have a lot of financial implications,” she said.