Police arrest bride's parents in Niger State for failing to deliver their daughter after wedding

POLICE in Niger State have arrested the parents of a bride who ran away from a wedding and refused to go to her husband's home following a complaint from the groom that they collected his gifts and failed to deliver.

Apparently, the police in Suleja arrested both the mother and father of the bride along with another relation after receiving a complaint from the groom Shuaib Dauda. According to Aliyu Lawal, the officer-in-charge of the Kaduna Road Police outpost in Suleja, Mr Dauda, who earns a living as an auto mechanic, filed the complaint saying he fulfilled all the traditional obligations required of him.

Mr Lawal said the incident occurred on May 6 when the bridegroom complained that the people he sent to the bride’s home to fetch her, in accordance with the tradition, did not see her. According to the police, the foot-dragging by the brides’ family to deliver her to the bridegroom led to the disruption of peace in the area, hence the arrest of the parents and the marriage guardian.

However, the bride's father, Abubakar Haruna, popularly known as Zakiru, said he gave out his two daughters on the same day, handing Fiddausi to Mr Dauda and Saliha to one Muhammadu Murtala. He added that before the marriage, Mr Dauda and Mr Murtala promised to comply with all the religious and traditional obligations for the marriage such as the dowry and the buying of clothes and boxes for the brides.

Mr Haruna said: “After the wedding ceremony, Dauda said he could not afford to buy the clothes and boxes to the bride as promised earlier. Fiddausi, realising that Murtala had redeemed his promise and presented the traditional gifts and Dauda did not, ran away to the neighbouring house until her bridegroom fulfilled his own promise."

He added that already, beddings, traditional kitchen wares, furniture and other domestic utensils had been taken to Mr Dauda’s home, ahead of the conveyance of Fiddausi to her new abode. According to Mr Haruna, Mr Dauda mobilised his friends who stormed his compound, insisting that Fiddausi must be produced and in the process they molested him and brutalised his wife, Bayi.

“Some other female guests from Kano were also brutalised, food items and other valuables they brought for the wedding ceremony were stolen by the hoodlums who attacked us for our alleged failure to produce the bride,’’ Mr Haruna said.

He added that while the hoodlums were molesting his family and his guests, the police officers from Kaduna Road outpost arrested him, his wife and his younger brother who is also the marriage guardian. Mr Haruna dismissed the allegation by the police that he was arrested for disrupting public peace in the community.

According to Mr Haruna,  the police asked him to refund N260,000 to Mr Dauda, being the amount he spent on the marriage. He said when he failed to pay the money as demanded, he was detained together with his wife and his younger brother by the police.

According to him, they were detained overnight at the police outpost and were granted bail following the intervention of his lawyer, Aliyu Musa. Mr Dauda said the bail was obtained on the condition that they would bring the money the following day or risk prosecution.