Thank you for all your responses. It was very late in Kano, and some of you were staying up and checking the board. I appreciate it.
I apologize, Dan-Borno. I thought this was the same topic as the original post (oppression of one religion by another), but I see your point that its difference is not sufficient to justify its inclusion. I will be better about this in the future.
As usual, Husnaa has done the heavy lifting for us and has shown us her great research skills. I am glad to hear that this event was blown out of proportion by this "Compass Direct News" organization. I went to their site and they apparently specialize in stories about Christians being oppressed by other religions; thus they tend to be biased. There are still a few unanswered questions regarding what happened, in my mind at least:
1. If these girls are 14 and 15 as the story says, how is it that they can just run away from home and not be returned to their families. I know that different countries have different customs, but in the US children cannot just leave home until they turn 18.
2. Were these girls going to marry Muslim men and become part of their families? Is that right, especially at their ages?
3. Is Sheriff right that Nigeria doesn't allow her daughters to be kidnapped or sold off for marriage? I know that this is accepted custom in most Arab states - there was a recent case in Kuwait where the 10-year old (I think) ran away from the old man she had been sold to by her parents, and at least one Kuwaiti judge took her side. And there were some Palestinian parents who were jailed for selling their 9-year olds into marriage. They were arrested not for selling the kids, but because they were just too young. I believe this happened the second half of last year.
4. Were these girls being abused at home? If so, there should be some sort of welfare agency to step in and act in their interests.
5. If not, we may just have a case of teenagers. I don't know how many have raised teenagers, but they can be a real terror, believe me. If my kids could have run off to the mayor of my town, they would have done so at least once a month. I think they are just insane at that age - they hate everyone, especially their parents. They're great friends now, but when they turned 13 the whole house was an insane asylum.
In any event, it appears that this was a case of miscommunication. I appreciate all the work you put into this research, Husnaa and Sheriff.
As for the school in Australia, I'm torn on this issue. My heart is with those who want to express themselves by having the school built. Free speech is essential for those who want to create and develop their economies and societies. I'm also somewhat sympathetic to those who want to retain their cultural heritage. The article mentioned that the town had prevented the building of a McDonald's fast food restaurant. This act is common in the US. However, we have dozens of Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and Somali restaurants. There's even an Afghan restaurant near my house. Some towns just don't like McDonald's restaurants - they cheapen their "look," I guess.
A problem I've read about with Muslim immigrants in Europe is that they usually don't assimilate into the culture. In California, Mexicans come accross the border (illegally) to work, and they learn the language and eventually become Americans. At least their kids do. I've also mentioned before here someone I work with who is from Lagos. He's one of the top utility auditors in the country, in my opinion. His kids are at Harvard and University of California at Berkeley. They've fully assimilated. But if someone wants to come here and work (and millions apparently do, whether it's legal or not), I'd say they should plan to assimilate - if they do we'll accept them (even if some of us squak about illegal immigration - they like to talk but we don't listen much).
I know someone from Paris and she says that the Muslims there (mostly from Turkey, apparently) just stay by themselves, don't allow their kids to make friends with others, and sometimes kill their daughters if they are too friendly with the French boys. As a result, according to this friend, they're not liked much by the French. On the other hand, my experience is that the French really don't like many people, especially if they don't speak French.
So I guess I'm still undecided on this. Jack