Cleric With 86 Wives

In Nigeria,the Governor of Niger State Babangida Aliyu has carpeted human rights activists and organisations defending a Bida-based Islamic  scholar, Mohammed Masaba, said to be married to 86 women.

 The defence put up for Masaba by the groups, the governor said, was morally wrong and unjustified.

 Aliyu spoke on Tuesday while swearing-in the first female Chief Judge in the state, Justice Fati Abubakar.

The new CJ is the wife of former military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.

 For marrying 86 women, the state government had engaged the cleric in a legal tussle, an action that prompted over 20 human rights groups to defend Masaba.

 The governor on Tuesday noted that the groups would have risen in defence of the women instead of supporting the cleric.

 Aliyu said, “We can deceive ourselves but we cannot deceive God.”

 The governor, who also decried the incidence of harmful practices against the girl-child, called for the implementation of the law to stop the practices in the state.

 He urged the Ministry of Women Affairs to avail his office with the report of a committee set up to investigate a man in Gwada, who reportedly poured acid on his wife during a quarrel.

Canvassing better opportunities for women, the governor sought the removal of all impediments to the development of the girl-child.

 According to him, the new Chief Judge has been able to attain an enviable height in the judiciary because she followed the path of education.

 Describing her as “a paragon of empathy and welfare,” the governor urged her to help to transform the judiciary in the state.

 He particularly advised her to instill discipline in the judiciary in order for the citizens to have confidence in the system.