The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and the Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria have urged Nigerians, particularly Christians, to exercise restraint in their reactions to the conviction of a Christian woman, Mrs Lami Samuel Dawa, who was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment by a court in Borno State.
Dawa was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly preaching to a Muslim girl who reportedly converted to Christianity.
According to reports, Justice A. B. Kumdila of the Borno State High Court sentenced Dawa under Section 210 of the state’s Penal Code.
The conviction generated widespread reactions on social media, with some Christians describing it as an act of religious persecution and calling on Christian organisations to intervene.
However, the PFN and CLASFON warned against spreading unverified information about the case, insisting that the circumstances surrounding the conviction were more complicated than the accounts circulating in the public domain.
Speaking with Saturday , the National Secretary of the PFN, Bishop David Bakare, said the fellowship had been informed about the case, but noted that information in the public domain did not accurately represent the circumstances.
He cautioned Christians against making inflammatory statements and drawing conclusions without examining the court proceedings.
“PFN has been informed about the case, but our investigation shows that the case is not exactly as it is in the public domain, and I will advise that those commenting on the case should do a detailed investigation.
“We are being careful; we don’t want to pursue a case just anyhow. We don’t want to be ridiculed as uninformed people,” Bakare said.
He added that the fellowship was monitoring the case, expressing satisfaction that an appeal had been initiated against the conviction.
“We are happy that the case is in the appeal court and we are monitoring what is happening. But in the interim, there is a need to tread softly and carefully on the matter,” he said.
On his part, the Chairman of the Maiduguri Branch of the Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria, Ephraim Yidawi, appealed to Christians to remain calm and avoid spreading unverified accounts of the proceedings.
Yidawi disclosed that the fellowship represented Dawa and four others during the trial, adding that while Dawa was convicted, the other four defendants were discharged and acquitted.
He cautioned against reducing the case to claims that Dawa was convicted simply for preaching to a young girl or converting her to Christianity.
According to him, the defendants faced allegations bordering on conspiracy to abduct a child, enticing or inducing a child to leave parental custody, removing a child from the lawful custody of her parents, depriving the child of access to education and interfering with the child’s religious practice and conversion to Christianity.
In the judgment dated May 5, 2026, and sighted by Saturday , Dawa was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for depriving a parent of the lawful custody of his child.
Yidawi said an appeal had been initiated against the judgment, adding that the legal team was pursuing appropriate appellate remedies.
When contacted, the Borno State Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Usman Tar, described the matter as a legal issue, saying he was not aware of the case.
“The issue is a technical and legal matter. I have no knowledge of it,” he said.
Efforts to reach the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the state, Bishop Naga Mohammed, for comment were unsuccessful, as his telephone lines were unreachable and messages sent to him had yet to receive a response as of the time of filing this report.