A marital dispute took a new turn at the Magajin Gari Shari’a Court in Kaduna on Tuesday after a man demanded N500,000 from his wife before agreeing to her request for the dissolution of their marriage.
The wife, Firdausi Shu’aibu, had approached the court seeking a Khul’i divorce, an Islamic process that allows a woman to end her marriage by returning the dowry paid by her husband.
She informed the court that the dowry paid at the time of their marriage was N80,000 and expressed her willingness to refund the full amount.
However, her husband, Ahmad Tijani, asked the court to grant him time to consult with family elders in an effort to resolve the matter amicably.
He stated that if reconciliation efforts failed, he would only consent to the divorce upon receiving N500,000, arguing that the original dowry of N80,000 would not be sufficient for him to remarry given the current economic situation.
When asked by the presiding judge, Mu’awiyya Shehu, whether she accepted the husband’s demand, Shu’aibu declined, insisting she was only prepared to refund the exact dowry paid at the time of the marriage.
Following the submissions of both parties, the court adjourned the matter until July 30 to hear the husband’s justification for requesting N500,000 instead of the original dowry amount.