*"MAYO-BELWA"*

No one from his family wanted to agree to marry him off, so they gave up and that’s how the rift started between us. I met UBAIDULLAH ABDULNUR ABDALLAH and his brother NASIR at school. We became very close friends. We studied Islamic knowledge together and everything else. There was nothing we didn’t do together. It was like we were twins. I will never forget that day.

_"On Tuesday in the month of October, the day the black day happened to me, a day I will remember for the rest of my life"_

This was when I was coming from Bayero University. As soon as I got out, I saw a very beautiful girl, chocolate in complexion, about 16 years old. She was standing waiting for something. I stopped and rolled down the car window and said:

_"Assalamu alaikum,"_

The worry on her face was a different kind of worry. She looked lost. When she saw me, she didn’t enter. At first I thought she was shy and was smiling. I said, "Sister, where are you going? I’ll give you a ride." She came out but wasn’t fully comfortable. She greeted me and entered. I greeted her too. She seemed sad. I asked her where she was going. She said she was going home. I told her to come, I’ll drop her. She agreed. I asked if her parents were home. She said her mother was home and her father wasn’t around. At the end, I gave her my friend’s advice: "Should I ask your parents or will God bring her to me and make it easy?" She said yes.

I will never stop saying this: from the day I knew her, I’ve been waiting. She finished school and went to Gamboru market. They got her married. Now she’s in her final year of secondary school. The day she got married, I was heartbroken. I was in a state of shock. Her mother used to insult me and say I was not good enough for her.

It was also on this day on the way, near the school, at Tareta Powder, a woman hit her. She didn’t even know who she was. She started crying. I saw her situation and prayed to God to heal me in my heart, but I was also hurting.

Sadness entered me in a way I can’t describe. From that day until today, I haven’t had peace of mind. Anytime I remember what happened, my heart breaks. I remember the day we met and how she looked at me. That day, both of our eyes were saying "I love you" without words. Her mother cut that short. She came and separated us with a heavy heart. That day broke me completely.

She even asked me why I didn’t tell her parents. I told her I had already gone to her mother that day and entered, for example. She said, "No, that’s not how it’s done. A man should come to the woman’s house and talk, and the family should agree." But I was afraid. I was shy to go because of how her mother was. The second thing was, she was still young. The third was, her brother was in Maiduguri. When I went to see him and told him, he told me to be patient and wait. He said we should wait until she finishes school. That was his advice.