Mass wedding: Kano government discovers HIV patients, pregnant women, and others

The Kano State Hisbah Board has made hints that the state will shortly introduce legislation requiring pre-marital counselling prior to matrimony for all citizens.

During the recent screening of intended couples for a mass wedding, the board’s director general, Abba Sufi, revealed that several people with liver issues, pregnant women, and HIV/AIDS positive individuals were found.

He claimed that individuals with illnesses like HIV received counselling, whilst those with other conditions that could be addressed were given medication.

In his words, “The discovery has proven to all the importance of the pre-marital screening, and this has made it important for us not to take it lightly, because had it not been for the screening, only God knows the number of children that are going to be born as sickle cell patients, and so many diseases will also be transmitted among people.”

The board had already finished screening 1,600 people from the state’s 44 LGAs, Sufi continued, adding that it was haram (forbidden) for pregnant women to get married under Islam.

Recall that the state government set aside approximately N800m for the organisation of the mass wedding that is scheduled for this month’s middle.