A mother of three, Safiya Usman, has appealed to a Shari’a Court in Kaduna to compel her estranged husband, Umar Abubakar, to increase the daily feeding allowance for their children and provide them with a home.
Usman made the plea on Wednesday before the Shari’a Court sitting at Magajin Gari, Kaduna, where she sought an increase in the children’s daily maintenance from N2,500 to N3,500.
The children—two girls aged 13 and seven, and a three-year-old boy—are currently in her custody.
Usman told the court that the N2,500 her former husband provides daily was no longer enough to feed the three children adequately.
She said the amount translated to N105,000 monthly, but insisted that the rising cost of food had made it increasingly difficult to provide the children with three square meals a day.
Beyond feeding, she asked the court to order Abubakar to take responsibility for the children’s school fees, medical expenses and clothing.
Her most urgent concern, however, appeared to be accommodation.
Usman said she currently lives with the children in her mother’s house, but the growing family had outgrown the available space.
She therefore urged the court to direct Abubakar to provide suitable accommodation for the children.
Abubakar, a driver, told the court that he could only afford the existing N2,500 daily allowance.
He also disputed Usman’s claim that he was not contributing towards the children’s education, insisting that he pays their school fees.
The defendant, however, requested one month to make arrangements to secure accommodation for the children.
Usman rejected his claims, maintaining that Abubakar could afford the N105,000 monthly feeding allowance and had not been paying the children’s school fees as claimed.
Rather than immediately ruling on the competing claims, the court directed both parties to substantiate their positions.
The Judge, Malam Mu’awiyya Shehu, adjourned the case until October 12.
The complainant is expected to provide evidence that Abubakar can afford the N105,000 monthly maintenance, while the defendant is to produce proof of payment of the children’s school fees.
Until then, the three children remain at the centre of a dispute that has moved beyond the breakdown of their parents’ marriage to the more pressing question of how their basic needs will be met.
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