Nigerian Family Embodies Christian-Muslim Division

The conflict between Islam and Christianity in this city is played out in the home of a militant Christian leader whose Western-educated daughter became a Muslim.

Jolly Tanko Yusuf claims that a fundamentalist Muslim kidnaped his daughter, Christiana, along with several other young women and girls from Christian homes.

Christiana, who now calls herself Halima Sa’adiya, works for the Abuja National Mosque Council, which is building a multimillion-dollar gold-domed complex in Nigeria’s new capital, Abuja. She said she converted freely and Islam has brought her peace of mind.

Stories of kidnapings in Kaduna began three years ago, but investigators said they found no evidence. Christian leaders like Tanko Yusuf, a former ambassador who is national secretary of the Christian Assn. of Nigeria, claim that local officials involved in the inquiry are Islamic fundamentalists.

“They kidnaped her, I know it,” he said. “Now they tell me she is a Muslim.”

In Christian-dominated southern Nigeria, “Many families have Muslims and Christians and they live in peace with one another,” Sa’adiya said. “Many of my relations are Muslims, and some are Christian.”

Islam helped her solve emotional problems after she returned home from school in Britain, Sa’adiya said.

“Before, I felt I was going around in circles,” she said. “Through Islam, I have built confidence in myself.”

Sa’adiya said she had “enjoyed going to church and singing and praising God,” but came to feel Christians had made churchgoing into “social occasions when . . . men and women mix and it is an opportunity for people to court.”

Islam allows her the privacy to pray in her own home, she said.