AISHA ABUBAKAR
A woman, Mrs. Harira Muhammad Tudun Murtala, has landed in trouble for allegedly being married to two husbands at the same time in Kano State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the order of the Kano Upper Shari’a Court for getting married to another man without dissolution of her first marriage.
The presiding judge, Khadi Munzali Tanko Soron-Dinki, ordered further investigation by the Police and also ordered that the woman and the second husband to be remanded in a custodial facility till 16th May, 2025.
The woman, Mrs. Harira Murtala and her first husband, Sagiru Shuaibu Murtala, have been married for six months and living separately before she secretly got married to another husband, Bello Abdullahi Yankaba.
The act of bigamy was discovered when the first husband visited her and found a man on his matrimonial bed and he alerted neighbours on the situation.
The matter was reported to the Police and the suspects were arrested and detained at the station for interrogation over their alleged conduct.
They were eventually found culpable and charged before the Court for the alleged offence which attracts several several years of imprisonment.
When she appeared before the Court, the woman first denied being married to her first husband. But when the judge ordered her to swear by the Qur’an, she retracted her statement.
The second husband, Bello Abdullahi Yankaba, also told the court that his marriage with her was contracted by her uncle, one Abdullahi Umar, upon the payment of a dowry of N100,000.
The judge, Khadi Munzali Tanko Soron-Dinki, directed further investigation by the Police and ordered that the woman and the second husband be remanded in correctional center and adjourned the matter.
In Nigeria, the punishment for bigamy varies depending on the region, under the Criminal Code Act applicable in Southern Nigeria, bigamy is punishable by seven years imprisonment under Section 370 of the Criminal Code Act.
While in the Northern Nigeria, which operates under the Penal Code Act, the punishment for bigamy is seven years imprisonment and a fine under Section 384 of the Penal Code Act.
However, it can be up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine if the previous marriage is concealed from the new spouse under Section 385 of the Penal Code Act.
