KANO, Nigeria—A team of Islamic elders and bureaucrats is casting aside Nigeria's violent approach in fighting terrorism and trying something new: mass weddings.

For five years, Nigeria's army and an Islamic sect called Boko Haram have pounded each other, creating a cycle of terrorism and male unemployment in Nigeria's north, and leaving what some here describe as a surfeit of single women. To help restore order, the Kano State Hizbah Board—a local bureau that implements Islamic law—is funding a spree of group weddings.

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