Hajia Asmau Malami, widow of a late Nigerian diplomat, Shehu Malami, has dragged her stepson, Aminu Shehu Fodio, before a Sokoto Lower Sharia Court in Sokoto state, over an alleged plan to evict her from the house she lived with her late husband for forty-five years.
According to documents made available Wednesday to Blueprint, the duo had been at loggerheads over moves by the defendant to eject the widow from the family house despite pleas by the late envoy’s associates, relatives and Muslim clerics.
The late envoy, who was the Sarkin Sudan-a leading title in the Sokoto Caliphate, was Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, a descendent of Usmanu Danfodio, and renowned businessman.
At the resumed hearing Tuesday, the court, presided over by Alkali Nasiru Jibdawa, admitted in exhibits the two wills left by the deceased, and so tendered through a witness, Alhaji Abdulkadir Bello.
Tendering the documents, Bello said he is one of the property administrators appointed by a Court in Abuja, and that the plots belonging to the late envoy located in Asokoro and Guzape in Abuja were sold by the deceased, while a farm and house in Mambila were also sold after his death.
Bello, who is also an relation of the late diplomat, gave a breakdown of Malami’s properties located in Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto states along with shares domiciled in different companies with the present market values and bank accounts.
