A man, Ali Abubakar, who was dragged to a Shari’a court sitting in Kaduna by his wife, Ajinomo Ohunenene-Ummi, on Wednesday was absent owing to lack of transport money.
Abubakar was said to have sent word through the court messenger, Tajuddeen Saidu, that he would not be available for the hearing because he did not have transport fare from Abuja to Kaduna.
He, therefore, prayed the court to go ahead with the proceedings and grant the petitioner her wish.
Earlier, the petitioner, through her counsel, Nafisa Ibrahim, stated that she wanted to redeem herself from the marriage and was ready to return the N50,500 dowry.
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She also prayed the court to grant her custody of their one-year-old daughter and to order the defendant to pay N20,000 monthly feeding allowance.
The Judge, Malam Abdulrahman Isiyaku, ordered that the court messenger and the petitioner to call Abubakar on phone so that he could respond to the claims.
The court messenger reported to the judge that Abubakar had agreed to the divorce and child custody to the mother but noted that he said he would pay N10,000 monthly feeding allowance for his daughter.
He added that Abubakar suggested that the complainant should use the N50,500 dowry as monthly feeding allowance for their child for five months.
The judge asked the complainant if she agreed with the amount, and she agreed.
Isiyaku dissolved the marriage through khul’i (redemption) and ordered the petitioner to keep the N50,500 meant for refund of the dowry to feed her baby for five months in place.
The judge also ordered Abubakar to continue taking care of the child’s health, clothing and education until she reached school age. (NAN)
