JUSTICE Sidi Bello Rufai of the Upper Area Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Gudu, Abuja, has given Maryam Sherif the custody of the three children she had for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Abubakar is the son of Nigeria’s former Vice-President with the same name.
Maryam Sherif and Abubakar are divorced.
Sherif filed the suit for custody of their three sons who are currently with their father.
Justice Bello Rufai said the right place for the children to be is with their mother.
When the matter resumed last week after some adjournments, the judge reminded the litigants about the provisions of the Shari’ah on the matter.
Abubakar and Sherif were in court.
The judge said the father should not use his position to forcibly take away the children from their mother.
According to him, the children should be handed over to their mother, and if the father has any cause to, should challenge their custody in court.
He said under Sharia, Allah has given the mother the right to take care of their children.
Justice Bello Rufai said the children are innocent and should not be made to suffer over the disagreements between their parents.
Abubakar said the children were in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, where he could provide shelter and education for them.
The distraught father appeared outraged by the judge’s verdict as he argued against the judgment.
His lawyer reminded him that he was in court, adding that he needed to take it easy.
As the arguments continued, the judge ended the session abruptly and left.
It was gathered the matter had been transferred to the Upper Area Court, Kubwa, FCT, and a date is yet to be fixed for the hearing.