Wives of Nigerian "Super Polygamist" stage demo

Yesterday we learned that "super polygamist" Bello Abubakar Masaba had 86 lawyers to divorce his 86 wives.

Today, those 86 wives took to the streets in protest.

Alhaji Bello Abubakar Masaba's 86 wives yesterday staged a noisy protest at the premises Niger State Ministry of Justice and demanded for the immediate release of their embattled husband. Masaba, who has been detained at the Minna Prison since Monday, is standing trial before the Upper Sharia Court, Minna for marrying 86 wives, contrary to the Islamic injunction that limits a man to not more than four.

The women, accompanied by at least 20 of Masaba's children, raised placards and chanted slogans in solidarity with their husband, who they said committed no crime.

Some of the placards read, "Our husband is innocent, he is God-sent", "What Allah has joined together, let no man put asunder", "We are legally married to Baba and we are not complaining."

Spokesperson of the Masaba wives Hajiya Hafsat Bello Masaba, who said she was wife number three, said she has been married to Alhaji Bello for over 20 years with four children, adding that the allegations against Masaba were a ploy to bring hardship to a law abiding citizen of Nigeria.

"The judgment at the sharia court is an abuse of justice and the rule of law. If we are not complaining, and our parents are not complaining, what is the sharia commission or the Etsu Nupe to complain for us?"

In the courts... one of HIS lawyers argue that it's a fundamental human right to have 86 wives. And oh, by the way, could you drop that fatwa saying he should be killed?

Meanwhile, the embattled Alhaji Bello Abubakar Masaba yesterday asked an Abuja Federal High Court to declare that the Sharia Court has no jurisdiction to try him for marrying 86 wives. Masaba, 84, moved his case to Abuja yesterday by dragging the Jama'atu Nasir Islam (JNI) and Bida Emirate Counsel before the court for their role in what he called "alleged attempt to breach his fundamental human rights."

The applicant is seeking an order of the court to restrain the respondents or any person or group of persons from undermining his rights to marry as many wives as he likes. Marrying more than four wives, according to JNI, is a violation of Islamic laws.

-snip-

He wanted the court to declare that "the issuance of 'Fatwa' by the JNI, which is an order any Muslim in Nigeria who finds him (Masaba) should kill him for marrying 86 wives is a contravention of his right to life and personal liberty as enshrined in the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, and it is therefore null and void and of no effect."

There you have it.