The Kano State Hisbah Board said it had commenced medical screening of 1,000 prospective couples for the next Mass Wedding Programme in the state.
NAN reports that no fewer than 4, 395 prospective couples were registered by the state government to participate in the programme.
The Director General of the board, Dr Abba Sufi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Friday that the screening which started last week was aimed at ensuring the health status of the couples before the marriage.
“The medical screening started about eight days ago and it is intended to ascertain the health status of each and everyone of them.
“The screening is mandatory as it will enable the board and each partner to know the health status their partners before the marriage is conducted,” he said.
Sufi said the medical screening was in preparation for the conduct of the programme scheduled to take place after the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
“The state government has planned to conduct the programme after Sallah, hence the decision to start the screening of the couples in time,” Sufi said.
He said the state government under the leadership of Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje was committed to the success of the programme as it would check prostitution especially among indigent unmarried young girls and widows.
NAN recalls that no fewer than 5,000 indigent unmarried young men and women benefited from the programme during the administration of former Gov. Rabi’u Kwankwaso who introduced it in 2012.