By Ayodele Oni
Islamic scholar, Sheik Ahmad Gumi is entangled in a marriage controversy. Nasiru Musa Idris, husband of a Moroccan woman has accused the cleric of interfering in his marriage and abducting his wife.
He also alleged that Gumi has been preventing security agencies from investigating the allegation.
Gumi has denied the allegation, saying that he would sue Idris.
Idris, who spoke on the matter in an interview with RFI Hausa, explained that he met Gumi at a pharmacy on Isa Kaita Road in Kaduna, where he had gone with his family, and that he later introduced his Moroccan wife to the cleric.
According to the accuser, his wife had never known anyone in Nigeria before he brought her into the country after he travelled to Morocco to seek her hand in marriage.
He revealed that their marriage was conducted with the approval of her parents and relevant authorities, including the Nigerian embassy.
“For Dr Gumi, I believe in him because of his character as a religious scholar and leader. I met him at a pharmacy on Isa Kaita Road with my family.
“The Moroccan girl had never known anyone in Nigeria and nobody knew her except through me.
“I went to seek her hand in marriage in her country, and we had an engagement with the approval of the embassy and the approval of her parents.”
Idris stated that the dispute started when Gumi allegedly insisted that he obtain another marriage certificate from a Sharia Court despite his having documents relating to the marriage from Morocco and Nigeria.
He said he told Gumi about his marriage documents, including those obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian embassy in Morocco, as well as other documents and a police character report.
“I told him that I did not agree with the marriage certificate he told me to obtain. Later, he went to the Sharia Court in Malali and asked them to issue one to him.”
He further alleged that Gumi subsequently sought the separation of his marriage and attempted to prevent security agencies from investigating the disappearance of his wife.
Idris called on the cleric to honour a police invitation and allow the matter to be investigated.
“My complaint is that he should come forward and answer the invitation of the police so that an investigation can be conducted.
“If he is right, there is nothing stopping him from going to the authorities to clear his name.”
He further alleged that his wife had been in Gumi’s custody for about 11 months, describing the situation as unjust.
“For 11 months now, my wife has been in his hands through injustice and ill-treatment. He has no relationship with her; she had never known him. The only place they knew each other was through me.”
Idris also disputed claims that his wife’s mother came to Nigeria and took her daughter away, saying he had personally processed her documents to enable her travel to Nigeria.
He alleged that he took his wife to Gumi after the cleric asked him to bring her for counseling because she is young.
“Because I trusted him, I took her there. From then on, whenever I called, she did not answer the phone,” he alleged.
Gumi has however denied the allegation but declined to discuss the details, saying the matter was already before a court.
He, however, said he would sue Idris for defamation.
“But I will take him to court for defamation against me. As for the issue of the girl, she has already left Nigeria and she is in Morocco happily with her parents.
“I don’t want to say much on an issue already in court, but I will sue him for defamation,” Gumi said.
Also speaking on behalf of Gumi, the chairman of the Volunteers of Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna, and the cleric’s personal assistant on special assignment, Malam Nasiru Ayuba, popularly known as Dan Agaji, denied the allegation that Gumi kept Idris’ wife in his house.
He said the woman approached Gumi herself to seek help over a personal problem.
“The allegation that Malam kept his wife in his house is not true. It was the woman herself who went to Malam to ask him for help,” Ayuba said.
He added that Gumi intervened because the woman, being a Moroccan national, sought assistance and said she could go anywhere if she was not helped.
“She brought the matter herself because she knew what she was going through. Therefore, Malam did what he could and took the matter to court,” he said.
Ayuba said Gumi’s supporters should remain patient until the matter is determined, insisting that the cleric had been targeted on the social media.
“He only wants to tarnish Malam’s image on the social media,” he alleged.
He said they would not disclose private information about Idris unless it became necessary.
“We will not expose anyone’s secrets, but if it becomes necessary to expose the secrets, we will do so because we have everything recorded,” Ayuba said.
