Posted by By Francis Falola on
The man with 86 wives, Pa Abubakar Bello Masaba, has expressed shock over the decision of the Emir of Bida, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, and a group of Islamic leaders to banish him from Nupeland for marrying 86 wives.
The man with 86 wives, Pa Abubakar Bello Masaba, has expressed shock over the decision of the Emir of Bida, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, and a group of Islamic leaders to banish him from Nupeland for marrying 86 wives.
Bello was reacting to the recent decision by the emir and the Muslim leaders in the community that he should either sack 82 of his wives leaving only four according to Islamic injunction to remain in Bida or leave Bida and the entire Nupeland within two days.
He said his safety in the land could no longer be guaranteed and expressed surprise over the verdict.
Abubakar in the proclamation against Bello also said while the state Shariah Commission would take care of the divorced wives, the state social welfare would be responsible for the upkeep of the children.
Speaking in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Saturday after the expiration of the deadline given, Bello insisted that he had not contravened any established law that should warrant the decision to banish him from the Nupe kingdom.
He said, 'I have not contravened any established law that warrants my being banished from the land. I am not a criminal as there is no law that says one must not marry more than four wives.
'All my wives are with children and some of these are people I have married and stayed with for over 30 years, how can they expect me to leave them within two days?'
He stated the need for all Muslims to be tolerant and realise that the ways of God were different from those of man.
He debunked the call made by Etsu Nupe that he should be examined by a psychiatrist.
'Islam is the same throughout the whole world. Allah is unchangeable and He is a just God. In the history of Islam, I am not the only Muslim that will marry more than four wives.
'It is on record that the popular Shehu Kaola Ibrahim Niyash married 75 wives when he was alive and his people never drove him out of town. His followers were with him and they abound in all parts of the world even till today.
'Kaola had claimed to have seen the Prophet who authorised him to do what he was doing while on earth.
'Nobody ever waged war against him. I wonder why they do not believe what I have told them or are they saying that God is not capable of doing all these and more?'
He denied the claims credited to him by some newspapers that he had seen God, saying: 'I am not Allah, I am not the prophet, I am not an angel, and I am neither a Satan, nor his agent. But I am a complete servant of God. I have not said I have seen Allah against what was being peddled about. What I only said was that I had seen the Prophet.'
When pressed on fears that his principle against Western, traditional or any form of medicine contravened the ongoing campaign against polio and other child killer diseases, Bello stated that following pressures from the state government in 2002, he sought Allah's permission for the immunisation of the children under his care and that Allah had graciously approved the request.
He described himself as a law abiding citizen and disclosed that since 2002 he had been cooperating with government officials concerning the immunisation exercise.
He allayed fears that his followers could become another Maitasine that could wreak havoc on the society.
He said, 'Maitasine is of the devil both front and back. I am of God and there is no way my group or I could metamorphose into such. I am for peace and mutual existence among all irrespective of tribe, race or religion.
'I was one of those who assisted the nation with prayer to destroy the activities of the Maitasine, so people should not link me with Maitasine.'
However, following the expiration of the deadline given to Pa Bello to vacate the land or divorce 82 of the wives, the State Police Command had waded in to provide adequate security for lives and properties of Pa Bello.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the state command, Mr. Richard Oguche, while speaking in an interview with our correspondent, said the police had detailed a team of their patrol men to mount surveillance and provide adequate security for the man.
On the expiration of the two days' deadline, he said that the man had not contravened any established law that should warrant a threat to his life and advised the people against taking laws into their hands.
He stated, 'He is covered by the nation‘s constitution to marry as many wives as he chooses to and there is no private individual or group that has the right to terminate anybody‘s life.'
He expressed the determination of the police in the state to ensure that adequate security was provided for Bello and his families.