How my in-laws ‘stole’ my wife - I left on my own, she says

A drama is unfolding at the Magajin Gari Shari’a Court II in Kaduna metropolis where a resident of Maraban Jos in Igabi local government area of Kaduna State sued his in-laws accusing them of ‘stealing’ his wife, their daughter. Weekly Trust reports

Malam Babangida Ibrahim Danauta got married to Laure Bala on Friday, February 6, 2009 after a courtship that was a talk of the town. However, soon after the marriage, things began to fall apart for the couple and the union became strained. Malama Laure spent only two days in her matrimonial home when she started complaining of a sickness that needed doctor’s attention.

“When she told me that she was sick, showing signs that I initially thought were that of pregnancy, I told her that I would ask my elder wife to accompany her to the hospital. I was sceptical, because I know that signs of pregnancy cannot begin to manifest just two days after marriage. She rejected the idea of my elder wife accompanying her to the hospital. In fact, as if trying to blackmail me, she said that if I don’t trust her then she would go alone. That was how the problem started,” Danauta told Weekly Trust.

When Laure went to the hospital, Danauta added, she did not return. “The next thing I heard was that she was seen with her boyfriend one Abba DanBorno who is also a resident of Maraban Jos. With that information, I made efforts to trace their whereabouts. I was lucky to trace them to DanBorno’s house, but unfortunately she was not in the house then. I continued searching. Fortunately for me, one faithful day I caught them red-handed in a cinema hall sitting together,” Danauta said.

That episode, according to Danauta, made him to threaten to kill Abba DanBorno and as a result DanBorno fled Maraban Jos for fear of the unknown.

“After a case at a police station, some elders in the area intervened in  the matter and my wife returned home. After just three days, Laure was nowhere to be found again. It was at that time that it emerged that it was her parents who took her away. I gathered that they told her to cut off my manhood so that I can leave her alone, but when my wife said she cannot do such evil, her mother, with the instruction of the father, ‘stole’ and took her to an unknown destination,” Danauta said.

According to him, while he intensified effort to trace the whereabouts of his wife, he received a court summon that his in-laws had sued him before a Shari’a court in Kwanar Dangora in Kiru local government area of Kano State.

“That court case, which they instituted against me, and so many other things they did to me forced me to take them to the Magajin Gari Shari’a Court. My intention was for the matter to be resolved amicably.

“For the three years I have been battling these people, I spent a lot of money to get my wife back because I love her, but the parents are making things very difficult for me. Let me tell you, I even sold my house and three plots pursuing this case and this is why I am now staying in a rented apartment,” Danauta said.

He said that at a point the court in Kwanar Dangora attempted to reconcile him with his wife where he was asked to state the amount of money he spent during the courtship and the expenses he incurred during the marriage rituals.

“Let me tell you, I spent a lot of money before I finally secured her hands in marriage. I saw her in Maraban Jos selling fried chickens and that was how the relationship started. When they asked me to mention the amount of money I spent at the Kwanar Dangora court, I asked them to only refund me N170,000 but they offered me N70,000. I rejected the offer because my desire is not to get my money back but my wife. I initially agreed to the reconciliation in order to have a peaceful resolution and let bygone be bygone because of my love for her,” Danauta said.

But in a separate interview with Weekly Trust yesterday, Malama Laure Bala said the claim by her husband that her parents ‘stole’ her from her matrimonial home was false.

“How can they do that? It is not true that my parents ‘stole’ me. I left his house myself because I felt I cannot continue to stay with him because of his bad characters. If my parents ‘stole’ me from his house, it means they don’t love me,” Laure said at the court premises before her elder brother instructed her not to talk to anyone again.

The Court under Justice Malam Ibrahim Inuwa yesterday ruled that since Laure’s mother was not in court, and because the claim by Danauta was that Laure’s parents, the mother specifically, was the one who ‘stole’ Laure from his house, the case cannot go on without Laure’s mother in court.

On that ground, Justice Inuwa adjourned the case to Wednesday, August 29, 2012, instructing Laure’s mother to appear before him on that date. Laure’s mother is said to be in Taraba now.

Danauta’s case is beginning to generate interest in Kaduna and environs. Residents of Kaduna are keeping their fingers crossed to see how Justice Inuwa would resolve the case of the ‘stolen’ wife.

Source: Daily Trust