Super polygamist, Bello Masaba left 203 children, 103 widows
— 5th February 2017
From JOHN ADAMS, Minna
To the children of the late
controversial super polygamist and Islamic cleric, Alhaji Mohammed
Bello Masaba, who died penultimate Saturday, the death of their
93-year-old father may have come sooner than expected. But they
entertain no fears of surviving after him. “I know that my father is not
dead, he is alive. Allah sent him to come and help mankind. He only
called him home to come rest,” these were the submissions of the eldest
daughter of the late Islamic cleric, 36-year-old, Fatima Abubakar Bello
Masaba.
Looking relaxed, calm and composed, Fatima, a Higher
National Diploma (HND) 11 student of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, told
Sunday Sun that her last moment with her late father was very emotional
and touching but full of encouragement. She recounted the deceased’s
last hour: “It was as if he knew he was going to die. He called us and
shook hands with all of us and told us that we should put our hope and
trust in God in all our dealings.”
“We never knew that he was going to die that day because
he was not sick. But he said if God decides to call him, we should not
entertain any fear on how we are going to survive.”
Since the demise of the Islamic cleric, the concern of
many has been the survival of the 103 widows, 203 children he left
behind and other less privileged that fed under his roof every day.
Aside his widows, children and grandchildren, Sunday Sun
learnt that the late Masaba took responsibility for feeding of over 50
people every day. He also extended other philanthropic gestures to many
within and outside the state.
Despite Masaba’s demise, his three-story building located
in the centre of Bida, the popular Kota woro, is still a beehive of
activities even as the children promised to carry on, saying their
father had taught them how to live without him.
According to the children, the spirit of togetherness,
love and oneness, which the late cleric had built in the children over
the years, would remain one of their greatest strengths. With over 300
people under one roof, the super polygamist had no history of domestic
violence, as he maintained a peaceful coexistence among all the family
members.
One of his neighbours, who attested to this feat,
described the late Masaba as a man of principle and courage. Mohammed
Idris, who had lived with him for over 50 years, said: “Baba” lived in
peace with his family and neighbours. I have been his neighbour for over
50 years now and I have never seen Baba in any controversy. He lived
peacefully with his family, he lived a disciplined life.”
The late cleric had no western education even though he
worked with the Bida native authority and retired in the 70s. But then,
he took the education of his children as a priority.
With 20 university graduates, over 30 undergraduates,
coupled with 25 others pursuing diploma programmes in various
polytechnics across the country, Masaba bequeathed a lasting legacy for
his children.
Although he did not run a full-fledge Arabic school in his
house, the Islamic cleric had no less than 10 teachers under his pay
roll. With no visible business, he ran his Islamic movement “Halihumot
Nabiyyi Islamic Organization” with over 5,000 followership spread across
the country. Even at that, there was enough to eat and share with
neighbours. It was gathered that he slaughtered a cow every week for the
family.
However, in adherence to Islamic injunction of the
mandatory three months and 10 days mourning period for the widow of a
deceased, all the widows of Alhaji Masaba declined to speak on what life
holds for them after the demise of their husband.
During the three-day Fidau prayers held in his house which
was attended by sympathizers from across the country, the women
observed the proceedings from the three-storey building with their
children.
According to the eldest son of the cleric, Mahmoud
Abubakar Bello Masaba, sustenance of the ‘huge empire’ left behind by
the deceased is in the hands of God, the sustainer of lives. He said:
“Even when Baba was alive, it was not him that was sustaining the family
but Allah. So, the same Allah will continue to sustain those he left
behind.”
“Our biggest strength is the spirit of love and care for
one another that he had built in us. All of us his children imbibed this
spirit and it will keep us together,” he assured.
Many travails of the super polygamist
Muhammadu Bello Abubahkar Masaba Bida hit the limelight in
2008 when his matrimonial life caught the attention of the media.
Subsequently, he was arraigned in sharia court under Sharia law and
reminded in prison custody.
His arraignment followed the death pronouncement passed on
him by an Islamic group, Jama’atu Nasiru-l Islam (JNI). He was equally
invited by Bida Emirate Council and the assembly of Islamic leaders for
interrogation over his marriage of more than four wives allowed by
Sharia.
At the end of their deliberations in Etsu Nupe’s palace
Bida, a verdict was read out by the Etsu Nupe of Bida himself, Alhaji
Yahya Abubakar, saying Masaba should divorce 82 out of the 86 wives
within 48 hours or leave the entire Nupe Kingdom as his safety could not
be guaranteed within the kingdom.
The controversial polygamist, however, remained defiant, adding “If God permits me, I will marry more than 86 wives.
“A normal human being could not marry 86, but I can only
do by the grace of God. I married 86 women and there is peace in the
house. If there is peace, how can this be wrong”, he queried.
“A man with ten wives would collapse and die, but my own
power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of
them,” he added.
The argument of the late Masaba was that he did not pursue
any of his wives. Rather, they all sought him out due to his reputation
as a healer. Many of his wives were much younger than he was. Even a
few were younger than some of his elder children. Notwithstanding, the
wives claimed that he was a good husband and father.
According to the injunction of the holy Quran, a man can
marry four wives. But Bello maintained that since the Quran set a law,
it must also set a punishment for offenders. But in this case of
marrying more than four wives, he argued, no punishment was given.
Before his trial at the Sharia court, the Niger State
Police command gave the super polygamist of Bida a clean bill, declaring
that nothing incriminating was found in the house of the controversial
husband of 86 wives. “We found nothing incriminating in his house. There
was no knife, no pistol or skull in his house when we went to invite
him to the headquarters for a chat”, the head of the police team that
arrested him declared.
While being kept in detention at the Minna Prison, an
Upper Sharia Court in Minna, presided over by Justice Alhaji Abdulmalik
Imam, on 6 October 2008 transferred the case of Masaba to a Chief
Magistrate’s Court in Minna for lack of jurisdiction. This action drew
sharp reactions from some Muslims leading to mass protest against the
court’s decision.
Thereafter, on November 12, 2008, a
Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, ordered the release of
Masaba from detention in Minna Prison with immediate effect. The trial
judge, Justice G.O. Kolawole, attached no condition to his release. The
judge also ordered the then Inspector General of Police, Mr Mike Okiro,
to ensure protection of Masaba’s fundamental rights
to life, liberty and privacy, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In July 2011, Dr. Muazu Babangida
Aliyu, the governor of Niger State, in justifying the position of
Masaba’s refusal to divorce any of his wives, said “though we have
Sharia in place in the state, but we have no law to pin him (Masaba)
down”.
The then attorney general and commissioner for Justice,
Niger state, Adamu Usman, disclosed that various attempts to prosecute
Masaba ran into hitches because there was no provision in the law of the
state to effect his prosecution.
Until his demise on January 27, 2017, Alhaji Muhammadu
Bello Abubakar Masaba Bida had lived peacefully as a law-abiding citizen
of Nigeria in his hometown, Bida, with his 203 wives and 103 children.
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