Court dissolves 19-year-old marriage, orders wife to refund N20, 000 dowry

A Sharia Court in Magajin Gari, Kaduna, on Thursday ordered a divorce seeking housewife, Binta Sani, to pay N20, 000 to her estranged husband, Adamu Abdullahi, to free herself from their 19-year-old marriage.

The Judge, Dahiru Lawal in his ruling said that since the petitioner requested for the divorce, it was mandatory on her to refund the dowry paid on her so as to free herself from the marriage.

He said that Islam gives the woman the right to seek for divorce through Khul’i, which is a form of redemption in which the woman returns the dowry paid on her to the husband to secure the divorce.

Our correspondent reports that Binta had earlier told the court that her husband had been ill treating her and was not ready to continue staying with him.

“I can no longer tolerate him; I want to return his dowry back to him because I am fed up and there is no room for reconciliation,’’ she said.

The respondent, however, told the court that he still loves his wife and pleaded with the court to intervene and save their troubled marriage.

“We have been married for 19 years, and we have five children, I don’t want to divorce my wife, I paid N 8,000 dowry on my wife,’’ he said.

The judge after listening to both parties said that the petitioner has right in Islam to ask for divorce.

“In Islam, a woman has the right to seek for divorce through Khul’i, when she returns the dowry to her husband.

“However, the judge also has the right to add to the amount of the dowry to enable the husband re-marry.

“I, Dahiru Lawal, judge of Sharia Court I of Magajin Gari hereby confirm the separation of the two parties.

“From now on you are no longer husband and wife and Binta Sani would pay N20,000 to Adamu Abdullahi,’’ he ruled.