3,000 Applicants To Be Screened In Gombe

At least 3,000 applicants will be screened on Tuesday by the Committee on Mass Wedding in Gombe, for the second batch of the exercise.

According to Nigerian Eye, this piece of information was disclosed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe, by Alhaji Abdulkadir Abubakar, the Publicity Secretary of the Committee and Senior District Head of Gombe.

He said the committee, which had different sub-committees, was mandated to screen applicants for pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis, among other cases.

Abubakar also commended the state government for introducing the programme, which was meant to assist the less privileged to get married.

In his opinion, the scheme will reduce the spread of HIV/AIDs in the state.

He also said that the committee had consulted traditional rulers and other stakeholders to ensure success of the exercise.

According to him, application forms for the programme had been distributed to 11 local government areas of the state as it was done in the first batch of the initiative.

He added that successful applicants would be provided with dowry, foodstuff, clothing, furniture and kitchen utencils.

NAN reports that 720 couples were married out across the state under the first batch of the programme in April.

They include 612 Muslim divorcees (Zawarawa), 76 Muslim Spinsters and 32 non Muslims.