Funsho Muraina and Aisha Wakaso
19 September 2008
Abuja And Minna — The travails of the 84-year old man with 86 wives seem to be borne more by outsiders than the people at the centre of the matrimonial show.
Yesterday, over 80 family members of Pa Abubakar Bello Masaba stormed Minna, Niger State capital, in protest against the arrest, arraignment and continued detention of their husband and father.
The home of the Masabas' was stormed in a Gestapo manner at about 3 am last Monday and the man with 86 wives whisked away to be arraigned at the Minna Upper Sharia Court. He is now in prison custody.
At the Upper Sharia Court presided over by Alhaji Abdulkareem Ibrahim, Masaba was accused of "inciting/insulting contempt of religious creed, instituting un-lawful marriage ceremony without lawful marriage contrary to section 210, 383, and 386 of the Penal Code."
Family members of Masaba comprising about 50 of the wives among them pregnant and nursing mothers and about 30 of the children arrived the premises of the state ministry of justice along Paiko road, Minna in two buses and several cars at about 10 am yesterday.
The women and children of the detained Pa Masaba were accompanied on the protest visit by some Islamic clerics, chanting Islamic songs, which tended to exonerate their husband and father from any form of criminal act that could warrant his arrest and detention.
They carried placards with inscriptions protesting the continued detention of their breadwinner, the protesting family members told all those who cared to listen that their father had not committed any offence and was not criminal to be put in prison custody.
The inscriptions on some of the placards read: "Don't render our unborn children fatherless," "Grave sin, grave sin, tampering with another mans' family affairs," "Our children needs their father" and "Sharia Commission, leave our husband and father alone."
Hajia Hafsat Masaba, who spoke on behalf of the women, said the state government working through the Shariah Commission were not fair to the family of the octogenarian by his continued detention.
Hafsat said the family members were suffering with the absence of Masaba because he had been living up to his responsibilities of catering for every member of the family including outsiders who have no biological relationship with him.
The children of the man, speaking through Marouf and Fatima, both students in tertiary institution, said things had not been easy for them since the police raided their home in Bida and whisked away their father.
But they all waited for over an hour without success to see the Solicitor-General of the state's Ministry of Justice, Alhaji Ndagi Usman, who had promised to address some members of Masaba family before law enforcement agents who stormed the secretariat sent them away.
Usman, however, refused to comment on the matter when contacted, saying the government had no comment on the issue since it was already before the court.
Rights groups have mobilized to defend Masaba, promising to enlist 86 lawyers for the 86 wives.
Meanwhile, Masaba has asked the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to nullify the death sentence (Fatwa) passed on him by the highest Islamic body in Northern Nigeria, Jamatu Nasril Islam.
He is also praying the court to declare as illegal and unconstitutional the order of banishment issued against him by Bida Emirate Council.
In the application for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights lodged at the registry of the court by his lawyer, Masaba urged the court to hold that notwithstanding the provisions of Islamic laws, the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must take precedence.
He is of the view that by the provision of the 1999 constitution, he enjoys freedom of movement and that his choice to marry 86 wives does not constitute a legally punishable offence at the time the marriages took place and that the order of "Fatwa" passed on him is unknown to law.
The administrative judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja is yet to assign the case to any judge.
But Justice G. O. Kolawole of the Abuja Division of the court had during court vacation granted Maasaba permission to sue both the Jamatu Nasril Islam and the Bida Emirate Council together with their officials.
The court had ordered all parties in the case to stay action in the matter pending determination of the motion on notice in the case.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
