Nigeria's mass wedding - and how telling lovers from fraudsters is proving tricky

Celebrations have turned the northern Nigerian city of Kano into a riot of colour and excitement over the last week as 1,500 couples married at a mass wedding.For days the city's streets have been buzzing with bridal parties and their families preparing outfits and attending other organised events.On Friday, brides in red hijabs with grooms in matching red hats and white robes went the palace of the Emir, the city's traditional Muslim leader, for the main ceremony where they officially became husband and wife.The nuptials culminated on Saturday with a wedding breakfast hosted by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who offered his blessing to the newlyweds.The Kano state government sponsored this initiative, spending 1.5bn naira ($1m; £815,000) to support those tying the knot - providing the bride's dowry and furniture for the couple's first home.The scheme targets low-income individuals who cannot afford the significant financial costs associated with marriage.The annual event was initiated in 2012 by the then-governor when 100 couples - primarily widows and divorcees - wed at the palace.The mass weddings have continued under subsequent governors, with numbers expanding each year as demand has grown and included those in polygamous Muslim marriages.Such is the popularity of the scheme that 5,000 couples applied this year.The event is always overseen by the Hisbah - the city's Islamic police force - and one of their main tasks is to vet the couples wanting to wed.Kano has a majority Muslim population and Sharia operates in the state alongside the secular legal system.Mujahid Aminudeen, deputy commander-general of the Hisbah, admits it is not an easy task."Whenever we find out that there's something dubious or fishy about a couple, we disqualify them," he tells the BBC.He says some couples will go to great lengths to convince the authorities that they are a genuine love match when their eye is more on the benefits on offer.The state government has spent approximately 1m naira ($735; £544) on each participating couple.According to the Hisbah, the support package a couple receives includes essential household items needed to establish a new home: beds, mattresses, bedsheets, pillows, furniture and food supplies.Each bride receives a dowry of 100,000 naira, while a further 100,000 naira is provided as start-up capital to encourage small-scale entrepreneurship and help the couple achieve financial self-reliance after marriage.All intending couples must undergo comprehensive medical examinations - including tests for HIV, hepatitis, pregnancy and genotype compatibility - before being cleared for the programme.Aminudeen revealed that some couples had been disqualified after being discovered to have altered their medical test results.In one case, an intending bride was found to have presented her brother as the groom in an attempt to benefit from the scheme.Local journalist Yusuf Ali Abdallah, who has covered the mass weddings for years, said Nigeria's struggling economy had been fuelling desperation among the applicants this year."As we all know, marriage involves spending money and the country's economy is not bright at the moment," he told the BBC."This makes some people desperate to get on this list."One couple who were already married had even attempted to present themselves as an intending pair before being detected and removed from the programme, he said.Other charlatans have tried to take advantage of those desperate to get on the sponsored list, which was made public two weeks ago.One Kano resident, who asked to be anonymous, said he had been asked to pay a bribe to get on the list."But to be fair to the organisers, I later found out those who asked me for money were not Hisbah staff," he said.He and his fiancée failed to be chosen for this August's wedding but he said he would try again next year.Aminudeen admitted that the Islamic police were aware of such allegations: "We have found that there are some people asking others to pay certain money so they can make the list."But the Hisbah officer wanted to assure all those wishing to wed in future that the entire process should not cost them a single naira."We want to announce to the people of Kano that the whole process is free: from the selection to the medicals and the goods set aside for couples - all are covered by the government."One of successful grooms, 43-year-old clothes trader Rabiu Yusuf, agreed the process of applying to be married had gone smoothly for him."Personally, no-one asked me for anything. I was told the government would sponsor it all," he told the BBC.His new wife is Aisha Auwal - the couple met as she regularly visited his shop to buy clothes.Yusuf, who already has five children with his first wife, said he was "very happy and can't wait to start a new life" with his customer-turned-bride.Twenty-four-year-old Amina Alhassan echoed his sentiments, adding that she had not encountered any problems when applying to marry 40-year-old Nura Abdullahi.Their union was first arranged by their families in Dambatta village before they presented themselves to the Hisbah."Everything has been free and I want to commend the Kano government for this scheme because without it, many couldn't have afforded to marry due to the high cost of living."After Saturday's wedding feast, the presentation of the household goods began.But it will take several more days for the excitement to die down in Kano and as the newlyweds busy themselves with setting up home together.