Man In Court For Kidnaping His Own Son

Ameen Abubakar, 35, of Kurmin
Mashi Quarters, Kaduna, was on
Friday arraigned before a Kaduna
Sharia Court for allegedly
kidnapping his three-year-old son,
Khalifa.

The complainant, Maryam
Abubakar, of the same address,
told the court that Abubakar, her
former husband, had asked her to
spend 40 days at her parents’
house after putting to bed.
She further told the court that
Abubakar had not visited or sent
any money for her upkeep. “The
only thing I received from him was
a divorce letter without a reason,”
she said.

Maryam said that after the divorce,
she discovered that Khalifa was
missing and when the matter was
investigated by the police, he was
found in his father’s custody.
Counsel to the complainant, Lydia
Izan, said that it was the
responsibility of the father to take
care of his child and urged the court
to direct him to refund what is due
to the mother.
Counsel to the accused, Sani Sanusi,
however, argued that the
allegation was baseless. “The father
has been taking care of his child
within his capacity as a tailor and
he cannot carry responsibilities
beyond his earnings,’’ he said.
Sanusi added that the complainant
was making demands that were
beyond the capacity of her former
husband and urged the court to
strike out the case as there was no
provision in Sharia Law that says
“we should feed our children with
what we don’t have’’.

Sanusi further demanded the sum
of N50, 000 compensation for time
wasted.
The judge, Usman Abubakar, said
that the child should be brought to
the court alongside three witnesses
from both parties before delivering
judgment in the case and
adjourned the case to August 31.