Drama as Zamfara teen divorces 60-yr-old wife

Neighbours told Weekly Trust that Bashir, who moved back to his mother’s house since the collapse of the marriage, has been bedridden by an unknown ailment and hardly leaves the compound.   Umar and his former heartthrob, A’i Maikare made it into the news when the story of their hitherto unknown marriage broke out through […]

Neighbours told Weekly Trust that Bashir, who moved back to his mother’s house since the collapse of the marriage, has been bedridden by an unknown ailment and hardly leaves the compound.

 

Umar and his former heartthrob, A’i Maikare made it into the news when the story of their hitherto unknown marriage broke out through his aged mother, Malama Aisha Umar, when she filed a lawsuit seeking the dissolution of the marriage on the grounds that her teenage son was charmed into it.

His mother’s argument was that Bashir was not in his senses when the marriage, which she described as abominable, contracted owing to a talisman administered on him. She further held at the court that her son had never shown interest in young ladies competing to woo and win his affection, let alone a woman old enough to be his grandmother.

She equally spoke about her friendship to Maikare, pointing out that it took time for her to realize that a relationship was developing between her and the young boy. But Maikare denied the charge of using voodoo to hoodwink Bashir into the marriage, explaining further that the relationship between them was founded on the true love they have for each other.

Similarly, the boy defended his then-loving wife, when he told the court that the wedding had his explicit consent and approval, boasting that he personally paid N5,000 as dowry for his bride. It didn’t take a long legal battle before his mother lost; the court ruled that the marriage has met all the conditions set by Islam.

In an interview with newsmen after one of the court’s sessions before the suit was thrown out, Bashir reiterated his resolve to keep his wife and the marriage, saying he would never bend to his mother’s will to end the ‘controversial’ union.

True to his words, the teenage husband kept the relationship; and lively too, residents at the site of the proposed Zamfara Cargo Airport where they lived informed our correspondent. “Bashir would walk A’i Maikare around the neighbourhood every evening, with the duo making gestures that were suggestive of deep affection for each other,” a neighbour recounted.

Because the husband did not own a house, he moved in with A’i Maikare in her apartment located a trekking distance away from his mother’s residence. Although the house is built of blocks, its ramshackle poorly built interior and largely uncovered top gave it a look of a deserted structure.

However, when the going turned sour, Bashir moved back to his mother’s house. But as it headed for a deadlock, neighbours recall how the young husband became bitter with his partner. “Look at what she has made of me; is this how I used to be; you have destroyed my life; and I leave you to God,” the community head of the area told our correspondent.

“The boy is now seriously ill and hardly comes out of his mother’s house except on few occasions when he seats at the doorway,” another neighbour disclosed.

Meanwhile, when our correspondent visited A’i Maikare’s house, the apparently ageing woman emerged with only a wrapper tied to her chest.  She initially agreed to be interviewed after putting on a veil. But on being told that the subject was on her hapless marriage, she quickly walked away back into her house, retorting “So it is this issue that brought you here, I was thinking you came for something serious.” Similarly, when Weekly Trust sought an audience with Bashir, he declined to speak. Standing in front of his room inside his mother’s house, he yelled, “Go, I will not talk to you.” Two other attempts to speak with him or his mother failed.