Husband Demands Refund Of N80k Bride Price

A husband, Zaiyanu Muhammad of Ibadan Street in Kaduna, has urged the Magajin Gari Sharia Court to recover the N80,000 bride price and other expenses he paid before he married Saliha Abdulsalam. He told the court that the request became necessary because Saliha left the matrimonial home two weeks after marrying him. “I married Saliha on January 13 but she came to my house on January 27.” According to him, when he married Saliha, her parents pleaded with him to give them time to prepare dowry for her before moving into the matrimonial home. “But in spite of the N80,000 I gave her, she came to my house with nothing,” said Mohammed. Muhammad added that he had not seen Saliha since then until they met in the court on July 22. “Since she is not interested in the marriage, she should return my bride price. I used every possible means to see her back in my house but to no avail.” Saliha, however, denied the allegation. She told the court that two days into their marriage, Muhammad told her mother that he was not interested in the marriage any longer. “He asked me to leave his house, which I did and left for Giwa Local Government Area in Kaduna state and later to Abuja,” she said. According to Saliha, she is ready to go back to his house “because I still love him.” The Khadi, Ibrahim Mohammed, said they should go and settle their differences since Saliha had agreed to return to the complainant’s house. Mohammed adjourned the case till 1 August for report of settlement or continuation of hearing.