By Halima Abubakar
When Zulai Ahmed, now 20, got married in December 2017, she dreamed of a lasting relationship with her partner—but her dream was soon cut short.
Fivedays into the marriage, she started experiencing physical abuse and two yearsafter, she now sought a divorce at the upper sharia court Kofar Kudu Kano.
“Itis my second year of marriage and here I am seeking divorce because I can nolonger bear the pain I go through. My husband does not have a job; he beats meat every given opportunity. “This all started five days after our marriage whenhe slapped me claiming I have wasted food,” she said.
Atthe beginning, she saw no reason to report the abuses, even to his parents wholive in the same compound with them.
“Thingsstarted getting worse as I lost two pregnancies in the cause of beatings. “Inall these, my parents are the one paying for my hospital bill each time I had amiscarriage but that doesn’t stop them from sending me back to him saying itwas too early for me to be divorced.
“Thelast instance almost caused me my life as I passed out in the process of himbeating me and I was rushed to the hospital almost lifeless and bleedingseriously.”
Thiswas in March 2019. After lying unconscious in hospital for two months, Mrs.Ahmed finally recovered and heeding to the advice of a friend, she headed tocourt to seek divorce—which was finally granted.
Evenif the divorce was based on khul’ i,( an islamic way of seeking for divorce byagreeing to pay back the dowry paid on a woman if there are no enough evidenceto hold their husbands for domestic violence), Ahmed said she wanted it
desperately.MrsAhmed decried the stress involved in getting divorce, a process which lastedfor five months.
“Sometimesmy husband will refuse to show up in court giving flimsy excuses that willcause adjournment of the case, but I was determined to get the divorce at allmeans and thank God I have it now,” she concluded.
Unfavourable law?
Althoughthe Nigerian constitution is against domestic violence, there are stillprovisions in the country’s laws that make it legal. One of them is theprovision of the penal code applicable in Northern Nigeria.
Thelaw encourages violence against women. For instance, as provided in Section 55(1) of the code, beating of a wife for the purpose of correction is legal.
“An assault by a man on a woman is not anoffense if they are married, if native law or custom recognizes such correctionas lawful, and if there is no grievous hurt.”
The PenalCode was enacted in 1960 and came into force on 30th September in the year 1960.The provisions of penal code are similar to that of the criminal code, if notfor the inclusion of some Islamic base provisions.
Forexample, the criminalization of Fornication ( which is termed adultery) inSection 387 and 388 of the Penal Code, which is absent in the Criminal Code ofthe South.
Thecode, guides matrimonial justice in Kano, one of Nigeria’s most-populated stateand the focus of this report.
Genderroles within the state remain unequal, the pervasive norms surrounding the roleof women in many communities and the vulnerability of women to violence andabuse in Kano State remains high.
Reportingof such incidents and access to justice also remains limited, especially whenmany perpetrators are in position of power and trust or believed to have the“right” to abuse women and young girls as they are considered part ofthe household.
Thenature of domestic violence prevalent in Kano includes; verbal abuse, physicalabuse, lack of provision of shelter/accommodation, feeding. Others are;deprivation and restrictions on liberty such as access to health services,education, family relationship and psychological torture.
A Judge (Alkali), Halhalatulkhuza’i Zakariyya,of city number 2 Upper Sharia Court, Kofar Kudu, Kano, said poverty andilliteracy often are causes of domestic violence.
“Illiteracyand poverty is the major cause of domestic violence on our women. “Women heredo not even know their rights; they already grew up believing that a husbandhas the final say and reporting of any case in your marriage is like tellingthe whole world your secret.
“Thoughsome women now report issues of domestic violence but only when the situationhas gone out of hand and so much damage has been done than good. “In 2018, Itreated over 1,700 cases concerning women and 60% of it is on domestic violence;which is sometimes caused by lack of civilization and polygamous marriage,” hesaid.
Getting victims speak is quite challenging
Gettingvictims to share their experience for this report was a great challenge due tothe conservative nature of women in northern Nigerian. Only few agreed to sharetheir stories and the journey in seeking justice.
Shafi’aAbdullahi, a mother of three, lives in Yakasai in Kano Municipal localgovernment of the state. Due to her husband’s constant abuse, inability to fendfor the family, and refusal to allow her work, she now seeks to end themarriage.
Sheapproached the court in April 2019, but her request is yet to be acceded to.
“Healways tries to block all necessary ways that can bring in money. “This is myfifth month in the court and he is proving stubborn because he doesn’t likeattending court sessions and he is insisting I have no prove to back up my allegations.I am pleading with the court to hasten the process because he is making life aliving hell for me and my children,” Mrs Abdullahi said.
Thestory is the same for 29year-old Amina Muhammed who used to live with herhusband in Rijiyar Zaki. They got married in April 2016, but she now wants adivorce because her husband couldn’t afford rent. Worse still, he already senther packing.
Shesaid, “I have been in my parent’s house for two years now because myhusband sent me home based on the fact that he couldn’t afford our rent anymore. I came to the court to seek divorce because aside not being able to caterfor my needs, my husband maltreats and sometimes beats me to a pulp,” MrsMuhammad narrated.
MrsMuhammad filed her case in July this year and is still yet to get justice dueto adjournments.
KhadijaIbrahim’s husband does not beat her, but she would have preferred battery towhat he makes her go through.
“Iwant the court to bring an end to my marriage as I can no longer bear theinsult and harassment I receive from my husband,” she says.
Although he doesn’t beat me, but the beatingwill even be better because if he start insulting me, he always end upincluding my parents and it has become a habit for him. “Whenever I complain hewill send me packing then come back after some days to take me back. “This isgetting out of hand as I’m tired and also frustrated. On countless occasions, Ihave asked him to divorce me but he refused so I came to the court for adivorce.”
Theissue of domestic violence does not only happen in urban areas, some victimsfrom some rural areas in Kano also shared their ordeal.
This reporter met Yahanasu Mohammad at theUpper Sharia Court Dambatta local government on the 16th of September, 2019 whocame to file for divorce. The 34-year-old Yahanasu who has been married since2012 said maltreatment has always been the order of the day in her family.
“Ihave been married for seven years and nothing good except my children has comeout of it. “My husband has three wives, I am the second wife. “The third wifewho is the youngest ran away when she could no longer bear the maltreatment. “Ihave three kids but my husband cannot provide us with our basic need, whichinclude housing, food and clothing.
“Thisis my first day in court and I want this honorable court to ask my husband toman up to his responsibility, on countless occasion I have been driven out fromour rented apartment and on such occasions I have to stay with some friends amacquainted with because I have no relatives here in Danbatta,
“Evenwhen our child was sick and needed blood, my husband never showed up so Ipacked up and left. “When it was obvious my husband will not show up, I decidedto come back and seek divorce or get the court to ask him to man up to hisresponsibility,” she said.
It was still same story for HariraSuleiman.
“I have been married for two years withone child, but I have a daughter from my first marriage. “My husband has otherchildren too. “My problem is that my husband does not take care of my daughterand myself. “He beats me almost every time and does not provide food.
“Ihave never known that the court can help me get my rights, all this while Iwould have come earlier but now that I’m here I pray the court helps fight forme and get me the justice that I deserve,” she said.
Mitigation of trend
Thechairperson of Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA) Kano chapter, NibrastahirJalalain, explains how the organization helps in access to justice.
“Themeasures we take are awareness and sensitization programs on their (women) rightsand responsibilities towards each other. “Educating them on the dangers of refusingto speak out about the abuse meted against them, discouraging them from taking thelaws into their hands and educating them on the Sharia perspective on marriage institutionas a whole.”
“Casesof divorce are sensitive cases because it involves 3 parties; woman, man and children.“We try as much as possible to get an amicable settlement. “Where all means to settleare exhausted, we resort to divorce. “Divorce is always the last option. “Actuallywomen suffer a lot in cases of divorce because they don’t get support from theirfamilies and even the courts. “The men are always favored especially where the womandoes not have a lawyer to represent her.
“We alwaysget such cases to their logical conclusions; we seek for divorce after which weapply for maintenance and shelter and custody where children are involved.
Whenasked how many cases of domestic violence FIDA attends to daily, Mrs. Jalalin says“as to how many we get on a daily basis, I can’t really say because we can get almost10 and sometimes none. “Actually it depends on our availability because we are alllawyers. “We attend the legal clinic after court hours.
“In asituation where the woman in picture does not have a lawyer, the organization offershelp by providing lawyers who will stand for them on the case till the very end.”
This investigative report was supported by PREMIUM TIMES’ Center for Investigative Journalism.
