WELCOME TO NOIVA do CORDEIRO: BRAZILIAN ALL-WOMAN VILLAGE DESPERATE FOR MEN

Noiva do Cordeiro community is nestled in Belo Vale, which translates as “beautiful valley”, all its residents are women!  It was learnt that the community was founded by , Maria Senhorinha de Lima, who settled in the town when she was branded an adulterous and exiled from her own church and home in 1891.

The valley is dotted with groves of thick-skinned, sweet tangerines, banana plants, and ipe trees covered with bright yellow flowers.
But it is not just this beautiful scenery that catches the eye; it is the inhabitants. That is ‘beautiful’ women, whom many are single and in search of love.


Nelma Fernandes, 23, had pleaded: “Here, the only men we single girls meet are either married or related to us; everyone is a cousin. I haven’t kissed a man for a long time. We all dream of falling in love and getting married.”

Noelie Fernandes Pereira, 42, is tilling the vegetables, fruit and rice that the village grows both to feed itself and make money. She is one of 80 agricultural workers, nearly all of whom are women, wearing wide-brimmed straw hats to keep off the fierce midday sun. “This place is special because of the love of everyone,” she says.
So why has she not married? “I just have not found the right man.”
Could I be that man? “The heart, she has to choose. And you have to get to know the person.” It’s not the most encouraging answer to my proposal.

Marcia Fernandes, 33, a part-time folk singer and one of the village’s most glamorous women, says: “It’s marvellous having all the women working together here. We share every moment and even when we are working at our hardest, life is good because we are always with friends and we are always looking after each other.”

“We were totally isolated because of the prejudice we faced as a result,” says Rosalee Fernandes, 49, who is a fourth-generation member of the village and has been fighting a campaign to ensure that the authorities do not continue to sideline the community.

She says that the skewed female/male ratio in the village is not as bad as it seems — there are men who live here, but they spend the week away, working either as miners or in the nearest big city, Belo Horizonte.
She adds: “We miss the men a lot. We always look forward to the weekend when they return.”

The women of Noiva do Cordeiro acknowledge that they are an unusual group in rural Brazil. But things are changing fast in this country.
Brazil has a female president, Dilma Rousseff, and the boss of Petrobras, Maria das Graças Foster, is the only female head of a big oil company worldwide. Grant Thornton, a consultancy, reports that women make up 27 per cent of the senior managers of Brazil’s leading companies, compared with Britain’s 20 per cent.

Kaila Fernandes, 28, is the sister of Marcia, and when she is not tilling the fields, she dresses up as Lady Gaga and produces rather risque videos.
“I never worry about this side of life. I don’t think about marriage. I am sure love will happen independent of the place. My love will arrive at the right time,” she says.

Culled: The Telegraph

TERROR ALERT IN LONDON: 82-YEAR OLD WOMAN BEHEADED

Palmira Silva,82, a widow and grandmother described as “such a sweet lady” by one neighbour, was beheaded outside her home in Edmonton in a random but frenzied assault by a 25-year-old armed with machete.

The man was arrested after armed officers, who had distracted him to prevent further attacks, cornered him in a house and brought him down with a Taser stun gun. Some officers were injured.
Mrs Silva, who was of Italian descent, was pronounced dead at the scene.

One line of inquiry for detectives is understood to be that the man was inspired by recent footage of terrorists beheading two American journalists in Syria.

Some residents claimed last night that the suspect was a local man who had converted to Islam last year, but those claims could not be verified. Detectives said they had ruled out terrorism.

One neighbour told of her narrow escape. Freda Odame, 30, a catering worker, said she heard a commotion and pulled back her curtains to see a man in his mid-20s with a knife.
“Someone was shouting and the door was banging. I could hear the screaming but I could not hear what he was saying,” she said.
“I could see that he had a big curved knife, about the size of an arm’s length and he was crouching as if frantically searching for something. He had a crazed look in his eyes so I closed my curtains because I was scared.

“My next door neighbour was in his garden but did not seem to realise anything was going on. I have seen him around here all the time, I think he lives on the road. I think he lives with his family. Five minutes after I heard him screaming the police knocked on my door and told me I had to get out.”

Another neighbour described seeing a man brandishing a machete and shouting about cats and said that he saw a headless cat as he watched from his window.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: “There was a scream so I went to the windows and saw a guy with a machete with blood dripping from it.
“He was standing in the garden and walking up and down shouting about cats.”

The knifeman then appeared in the witness’s garden and began swiping at plants, he said. “He started cutting roses. We were just trying to call the police.” Sue Mahadooa, 50, who saw police cars screech to a halt outside her home, said officers ran down the street shouting at people to get out.
Police with battering rams began breaking down front doors and smashing windows to help residents to safety, unaware of which property the killer was in.

Ms Mahadooa said the property where the woman is believed to have been killed is split into three maisonettes and police were desperate to get its residents out without sending them into the shared corridor.
“These officers ran up and started trying to help these two children and a woman out of the little top window of the ground floor,” she said. “The woman couldn’t get through the window so they started smashing the bigger one, but then I saw them get her out of the front door.
“She was very frightened. The kids were crying and looked very scared.

There was clearly something awful going on inside.”
George Stylianou, another neighbour, said: “Policewomen were sprinting past and screaming at us, ‘Get back – you don’t understand how dangerous this man is’.”
Earlier one witness had tweeted: “Madman on the loose with a machete in Edmonton.”
Andy Love, the Edmonton MP, said: “I am absolutely horrified and stunned by what has happened in my constituency. This is a relatively solid community with relatively good relations between all of the people.”
Ricardo Kwiek, 23, a taxi driver, saw a young man fighting with police after officers stormed a property. He said the man was bundled into a van.
“There were policemen trying the front door and the back. The chap inside wasn’t letting them in,” he said. “They got in the back door. They came out with a man who was struggling and fighting. He wasn’t giving up. I could see loads of police fighting with him.”

A neighbour who knew the victim said that she still went to work every day. “Her husband died about five years ago. I think she came from Italy originally. I was speaking to her yesterday. She was weeding in the front garden, she loved her gardening,” the neighbour said.
“I think maybe today she was in the back garden. She was such a sweet lady. She was slow getting around but she still went to work. I think after her husband died that kept her going.”
Ms Silva’s family run a café in Edmonton Green called Silva’s Café. She was seen there every day. Mehmet Ungun, 41, at Aksu Food Centre, said: “She is a very nice woman. She came in nearly every day to buy supplies for the café. She helped out with the younger generations of the family.”
Commander Simon Letchford, of the Metropolitan Police, praised the bravery of officers, saying they “put themselves in extreme danger to protect the public”.

Det Chief Insp John Sandlin, leading the investigation, added: “We are confident that we are not looking for anyone else at this stage. Whilst it is too early to speculate on what the motive behind this attack was I am confident, based on the information currently available to me, that it is not terrorist related.”
The man was last night being treated for minor injuries suffered when he was arrested.

Culled: The Telegraph

BOKO HARAM: IKEDIFE WARNS NORTHERN ELDERS ON IHEJIRIKA

Former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife yesterday, while speaking to newsmen in his Nnewi country home, warned of a break-up of the country, if former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Nasir El-Rufai, and other northern leaders did not refrain from discrediting the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Major General Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) and other Igbo icons.

Dr. Dozie Ikedife said the accusation was another classical case of hounding and haunting of an Igbo icon in the person of General Ihejirika, who left the Army a few months ago as the Chief of Army Staff and that such a blatant statement was capable of attracting the wrath of Ndigbo.

He said: “I wish to recall that when Ihejirika left the Army, those I identified as destroyers of credit and rumour mongers said that he was dismissed from the Army, but my investigation revealed that Ihejirika retired as and when due and was indeed the last member of his course mates to retire from the army.

“Following that retirement, he continued, the high and the mighty in one section of the country ganged themselves up and decided to take Ihejirika to the International Court of Justice for alleged crime against humanity because, as they said, of the way he hounded, the way he tried to checkmate Boko Haram insurgency when he was head of the Nigerian army. They accused him of using undue force and fighting Boko Haram mercilessly.

“That particular accusation seems to have died down because it must be understood that in the army, you carry out orders and take instructions from the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. So, the stigma they wanted to stick on him did not work.”

GENERAL OWOYE AZAZI DIED BECAUSE HE KNEW TOO MUCH ABOUT BOKO HARAM....JOHN OYEGUN

Being text of a Press Conference addressed by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.Good afternoon Gentlemen of the press, and thank you for honouring my invitation to this press conference.

Before I address you today, kindly permit me to replay the full interview of Dr. Stephen Davis, the Australian negotiator who was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan to help secure the release of the over 200 girls who were abducted by Boko Haram on April 15th.

The interview was aired on Arise Television on Thursday Aug. 28th.

Thank you for your patience, gentlemen.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) like many well-meaning Nigerians had resolved long ago that the issue of the Boko Haram insurgency should not be politicized. In view of this, the APC expressed its willingness and readiness to cooperate with the Federal Government in neutralizing the insurgency. Regrettably however, instead of accepting this offer of cooperation, the PDP-Federal Government has consistently pointed accusing fingers at our Party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the sponsor of Boko Haram. They have called us all sorts of derogatory names, but failed to provide any shred of evidence to support their claim.

It has been very clear to us that the vehemence and persistence of this accusation, the deliberate distortion of statements made by our leaders to paint us as Boko Haram sponsors and the way the PDP-led Federal Government has gone to hire foreign PR firms, at a huge cost to taxpayers, as well as foreign and local hack writers to push this narrative, they were struggling hard to cover up something. We waited patiently knowing that the truth will one day surface.

In a rare moment of truth, a top official of the Jonathan Administration, no less a personality than the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi, situated the Boko Haram problem within the PDP. Shortly thereafter he was fired, and he later died in controversial circumstances. Still we waited.

They distorted and misrepresented the statements made by our leader, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to try to convince the world that he was indeed the main sponsor of Boko Haram. They continued to echo the same slander about Gen. Buhari that was started by Presidential Spokesman Reuben Abati in 2011, and for which he and his cohorts eventually begged to settle out of court and to apologize to the General. Still we waited.

When their attempt to link Gen. Buhari with Boko Haram failed, as his popularity among ordinary Nigerians continued to soar, he was suddenly attacked by suicide bombers. Those who planned the attack believed this as the final solution to what they perceived as the threat he represents to the realization of their ambition. By the grace of God, he survived. We do not claim to know those who attacked him, but we do know those who provided the atmosphere for that attack to take place. Still we waited.

When the government declared a state of emergency in three worst-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in 2013, thousands of troops were deployed to the three states. But the unusual happened. The number of attacks simply skyrocketed. It is common knowledge that in any territory that has been placed under a state of emergency, the military takes charge of security, erecting checkpoints as part of efforts to keep a tab on security. Such was the situation in Borno in April 2014, when over 200 girls were abducted and driven away in many trucks.

Soldiers posted to a nearby checkpoint were said to have withdrawn shortly before the attack. Who ordered their withdrawal? Some of the trucks in which the girls were being carted away broke down, yet no one challenged them. Despite this bizarre occurrence, they refused to accept responsibility and continued to cast aspersion on our Party, the APC, as the sponsor of Boko Haram. Still we waited.

Boko Haram routinely enriched their arsenal with tanks, Armoured Personnel Carriers, guns, trucks and other military equipment which they seized from the Army. From the videos they release from time to time, one could see Boko Haram insurgents driving around unchallenged in convoys of up to 60 vehicles made-up of tanks and other military vehicles they seized from our military, in a territory that is under a state of emergency. What is happening? No one could fathom it. Still we waited.

A man known to all as the kingpin of Boko Haram, a man who helped to arm them so he could win elections and decimate his opponents, was moving around with the best security ever. He is a known ally of the President and he is not known to be under any immunity. Yet he was never arrested or even questioned. Still we waited.

In line with a Yoruba adage that says when a drum starts sounding too hard, it is about to burst, the PDP and the Presidency ratcheted up their attacks on our party, labelling us as Boko Haram sponsors. They hired a foreign firm, Levick, for US$1.2 million in taxpayers’ money, as well as a number of out-of-luck hack writers and pseudo analysts, one of them from Russia, to help push the narrative. Still we waited.

Then their drum exploded!
Dr. Stephen Davis, a man hired by the President Jonathan-led Federal Government to negotiate with Boko Haram for the release of the Chibok girls decided to speak out, believing the best way to tackle the insurgency is to expose the sponsors. And who are they? On international television last Thursday, and as you have just seen and heard, he named former Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff and a former Army Chief, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, as the sponsors of Boko Haram.

Prodded by Sahara Reporters in a subsequent interview on whether Gen. Buhari and Malam Nasir el-Rufai were sponsors, he said the Boko Haram commanders who gave him the names of their sponsors did not mention their names. The die is cast. The truth is finally out! Boko Haram sponsors have been exposed. They are within the ruling PDP. They are friends of President Jonathan. He cannot pretend not to know who they are and what they have done and are still doing. His myriad of intelligence agencies, including the DSS and the DMI, cannot pretend they do not have any information on these men.

It is true that Ali Modu Sheriff was, until recently, a member of our Party. But the Party always suspected that he was a mole, planted to hijack or at best weaken the new Party for the PDP. He is not new to that role. He helped to decimate his former party, the ANPP, to an extent that the number of states under its control fell from seven in 2003 to three by the time he left as Governor.

We know for sure that Ali Modu Sheriff was planted in the APC to help decimate our party. We confronted him openly during the merger negotiation but he denied vigorously. His surrogate for the post of the Chairman of the APC, Chief Tom Ikimi together with whom they planned to hijack the Party for the Presidency was firmly rejected. Realizing they have failed, they fled our party and returned to where they came from, and were duly embraced by their controllers.

President Jonathan cannot pretend not to know the alleged role that Ali Modu Sheriff has played in the establishment and growth of Boko Haram, yet he never allowed the man to even be questioned by any of the security agencies under his control. All through his time with our Party, every time they accused us of sponsoring Boko Haram, on the basis of his presence, we challenged them if they had evidence to arrest any of our members who is suspected to be a sponsor, they never did. They dared not, because Sheriff was their agent. Even if he had remained in the APC after we democratically encouraged him to go, they would still not have arrested him.

Recall, gentlemen, that immediately Sheriff went back to the PDP, the Maiduguri Airport that had been closed to even the pilgrims from the state on grounds of security, was re-opened specially for him. What more evidence does anyone need that Sheriff was and remains President Jonathan’s Man Friday?

Our Stand
The truth is finally out. We have been vindicated. We have no hand in the Boko Haram insurgency. The raison d’etre of our party is the well-being and security of Nigerians

The sponsors of Boko Haram are within the PDP and the Presidency. They are known friends of President Jonathan. He knows them and they know him.

The man who exposed these Boko Haram sponsors is a Jonathan-appointed Negotiator. He has no axe to grind, neither does he have any motive to shield the APC or portray the PDP/Presidency in bad light. In fact, if he had any sympathy at all, it is for the man who hired him, President Jonathan.

We have said it all along. Boko Haram was politicized purely for one reason, and one reason only: To be used as a trump card for President Jonathan to win another term. For that strategy to work, the APC, which they see as the only stumbling block to the PDP’s victory in 2015, must be maligned and labeled. Gullible, duplicitous and self-serving politicians like Femi Fani-Kayode swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker, and started parroting the glaring lies. PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh, an obvious pawn on the chess board, followed suit, labelling a party that comprises Nigerians of all ethnic and religious hue a Janjaweed and Islamic party. Now he is stewing in his own juice.

In the process of this dangerous politics, the Nigerian military which was globally acclaimed for its impressive showings at various peacekeeping missions around the world, simply suffered collateral damage. Apparently, fifth columnists in the military has sold the force out, first by denying it of the necessary fighting tools and then weakening it to such an extent that even the little it had was being taken away daily by insurgents. When the patriotic Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno tried to raise the issue of the poorly-equipped troops and their low morale, he was roundly pilloried. Now the world knows why!

Now that the cat has been let out of the bag and the real sponsors of Boko Haram have been exposed, we hope President Jonathan will summon the courage to do the right thing: Hand over the identified Boko Haram sponsors to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution.

There is no doubt that Boko Haram has committed crimes against humanity in its scorched-earth campaign against unarmed citizens, and the most appropriate body to investigate and try the sect’s sponsors is the ICC.

According to Article 17 of the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, and to which Nigeria is signatory, the ICC is a court of last resort, expected to exercise its jurisdiction only if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute international crimes.

In view of the fact that the alleged Boko Haram sponsors are either members of the ruling party or friends of the President, it is clear that the PDP-led Federal Government is unwilling and unable to try them, hence our call.
Nigerians can rest assured that the APC will not allow this issue to be swept under the carpet.

Now that it is clear that the PDP is behind Boko Haram for the sole purpose of winning next year’s Presidential Election, Nigerians must prevail on the PDP and the Presidency to urgently end this insurgency and the daily killing and maiming of innocent Nigerians!

The President must remember that he is the Commander-in-Chief! The buck stops on his desk. He must now do all it takes to stop the growing mess in our nation’s North-East.

I TRIED TO HEAL RELATIONSHIPS....TSEMA KAYOH

Delectable Fragrance Tsema Kayoh, artist, model and actress hit the music scene with her unique, mellow sultry voice. The Delta State-born bundle of talent spoke about her burgeoning music career and other sundry issues.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE WORLD OF MUSIC?
Is there a world without music? (laughing) If you meant doing this professionally, I guess it was when I took the bold step to leave my comfort zone at home in Warri, Nigeria and came to the music capital of Nigeria which is Lagos. Gordons, the comedian gave I and a friend Ena Ofugara’s number. He was the manager at a record company and I got signed and released my début album SO LOVELY within six months of the meeting. That was sometime in 2006

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY HAS WORKED FOR YOU SINCE YOU GOT INTO MUSIC?
Tenacity. Persistence. perseverance, resilience, focus and faith in me and my mission. Talent isn’t even half the journey. Persistence and a never say die spirit is what I will say has gotten me this far (aside God of course) If you know the distance from where I live to my favourite producer’s place (Bayo Cean Joseph) you will understand what I am saying. And then I didn’t even have a car. Sometimes I had to take public transport as in buses with market women going to Iju in Lagos. I did not say “I have no money for taxi so I am not going to Bjay’s studio today” I get up and move nevertheless.
WHAT GIVES YOU STRENGTH AS A MUSICIAN?
God. It has to be God on this one. The challenges are plethora and you feel like giving up. God immediately infuses me with spiritual glucose and I have all the strength I need. (Laughs) Plus I watch a Beyonce Video or top rated performance and I say “Fragrance, get up. You can be like that pretty talented singer right there. She too cannot be having it as easy as it seems”

DON’T YOU THINK THAT MIGHT SOON GET INTO YOUR HEAD?
To my head as in success? If you have recorded in the same studio with 2Face Idibia and seen how humble that legend is, you will learn to be humble. The only thing that gets into this head is good advice from people who know and wish me well.

.
ANY MESSAGE BEHIND THAT?
My message has always been about love. In WE BE ONE, I tried to heal relationships with lines like “Me and you be one as long as there is love, affection and trust nothing can separate the two of us” in Now And Forever I had lines like “cos when I look into the future, all I see is you and me, that’s why I want to paint this picture, just to show it is signed and sealed.” In Yahweh and Oritse Mi. I sang about God’s love. So i will say my message is love.

WHAT IS YOUR GOAL AS A MUSICIAN?
Entertain and spread a message of lasting love which is why my album is titled NOW AND FOREVER. Of course it is showbiz so I intend to get paid while doing this of course as well as touch as many people as I can in positive ways.

INDECENT DRESSING @ NIGERIAN HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING

Yea, freedom of this, freedom of that, Nigerian Higher institutions of learning are where this freedom stretches to limit in term of dressing. Dressing? Sorry indecent dressing.  Female students keep wearing skimpy attires, bra-tube, spaghetti, etc, etc, thereby exposing vital parts of their bodies.

There is nothing like dress code, they just throw caution in the wind and all the moral values lost. Moreover men are not better either, they dress shabbily, sag this or that, they look more of tout than students, and these are the leaders of tomorrow!

This “Dress to kill” reign of skimpy dresses has turned many campuses to fashion runway. Thereby makes many campuses a ‘red zone’ spots where potentials ‘aristos’ patronise.

Worried by this trend, managements of higher institutions introduced dress codes. While some higher institutions may have succeeded in implementing the rules, but the students claims that this act is an infringement on their right.

What constitutes indecent dressing is not clearly spelt out. But what is indecent dressing? Students differ on what constitutes this:
“Indecent dressing is an immodest and improper way of dressing that negates the code of dressing design by God. I dress the way I was brought up, and as students, I believe we should not only be taught how to read and write in schools, but also how to promote our culture and traditions in a decent way.” Ayomide Fatumbi, Engineering student of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, said.

 Sope Oyeniyi, a Food Science and Engineering student of LAUTECH, said: “Everyone is free to dress the way he or she likes without hindrance from anyone or authorities. Restricting the way one dresses is unwelcomed and unacceptable to humanity. It is our right to dress the way we want. No one should compel others to dress in a particular way but if authorities believe they are not satisfied with the way some of us dress, they can instruct the security men at the school gates to disallow whoever dresses shabbily into the campus.”

Caleb Arulogun, a lecturer at The Polytechnic Ibadan on his own said: “Higher institutions are not secondary schools where there is uniformity indressing. Anyone who is admitted into higher institution is believed to be mature and to be able to differentiate his right from left.” He added that parents needed to teach their children morals, while institutions must strengthen its rules against indecent lifestyle.

While Olamide Sanusi, a final year student of Banking and Finance of IBADAN POLY, said:“To me, I dress the way my parents do at home, and sometimes, it depends on the kind of friend people keep. Most students dress well at home, but when in school, they join bad company in ‘advertising’ their body,”

Meanwhile, in order to prevent students from dressing shabbily while they study, regulators of some professional disciplines such as law and medical science have introduced a regulated dress code. While Law students put on white shirt and black trousers or long skirts, medical students wear white lab coat on any clothes they have on them.

It is important to know that all this indecent dressing habit start from home, in a situation whereby parents are no longer playing the role of guidance. Mr Omolewa Yunus, spoke my mind when he said: “Most improper dresses start from home.
Though some students change when they got admission but it should not be left only to the government and school authorities. I will support the implementation of dress codes for all students irrespective of their courses.”

Lawal Sulaiman, a 400-Level Mechanical Engineering student, LAUTECH, talked about danger of indecent dressing thus:“Indecent dresses pose a danger for our society as we have witnessed many cases of rape and assaults of our female students. This type of dress promotes criminal acts.”

Adedoyin Akorede, a 200-Level Medical Rehabilitation student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, said. “The way I dress most times speaks more of my upbringing. Though, there is pressure from friends on campus, but I can never bow to such ungodly dress of most female students put on,”

PA MASABA BIDA: STRETCHES POLYGAMOUS TO ITS LIMIT... 86 WIVES AND 170 CHILDREN

 Pa Muhammadu Bello Abubakar Masaba Bida,aka Muhammadu Bello Masaba, 90, a Nigerian man who stirred up controversy in his hometown of Bida, Niger State, when he married 86 wives, and fathered 170 children.  This Islamic scholars stretches polygamous to its limit, according to Islamic teaching,  a Muslim man can marry up  to four wives, mandating they must be all treated equally.

 "If God permits me, I will marry more than 86 wives. A normal human being could not marry 86 – but I can only by the grace of God," a defiant Bello Masaba told The Christian Science Monitor during a recent prison interview. "I married 86 women and there is peace in the house – if there is peace, how can this be wrong?"  Pa Masaba boasted.

Bello who formerly worked as a teacher and Imam  lived with his family in an entire apartment block. Bello claims that he never pursued his wives, and claims that they sought him out due to his reputation as a healer. In interviews with Al Jazeera English, one of his wives, who  claimed to be the 3rd wife said, her husband  was a good husband and father.

After the death pronouncement on Masaba by an Islamic group, Jama'atu Nasiru-l Islam (JNI), the Bida Emirate Council and an assembly of Islamic leaders invited him (Masaba) for interrogation. At the end of their deliberations in Etsu Nupe's palace Bida, a verdict was read out by the Etsu Nupe of Bida himself, Alhaji Yahya Abubakar, that Masaba should divorce 82 out of the 86 wives within 48 hours or leave the entire Nupe Kingdom as his safety could not be guaranteed within the kingdom. However,at the expiration of the ultimatum, Pa Masaba refused to divorce any of his wives and denied ever promising to do so.

Despite this, Bello was arrested in late 2008 by Islamic authorities and tried before a Shariacourt. Before his trial at the Sharia court, Police in Niger State gave the super polygamist of Bida a clean bill, as the state command declared that nothing incriminating was found in the house of the controversial husband of 86 wives. The leader of the police team that arrested the Islamic cleric in Bida in the wee hours of that penultimate Monday before 27 September 2008,

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr John Olayemi declared:
"We found nothing incriminating in his house. There was no knife, no pistol or skull in his house when we went to invite him to the headquarters for a chat."

But when asked why the police went ahead to arrest Masaba, the police Boss explained that the command only acted on an instrument of Upper Sharia Court.
While in detention in Minna Prison, an Upper Sharia Court Judge in Minna, Alhaji Abdulmalik Imam, on 6 October 2008 transferred the case of Masaba to a Chief Magistrate's Court in Minna after admitting lacking jurisdiction but Masaba was still remanded in prison custody at the instance of the Sharia Court.

Following the case, Bello advised other men not to follow his example:
"A man with ten wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them," he told the BBC.

Afterwards, on 12 November 2008, a Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja ordered the release of Masaba from detention in Minna Prison with immediate effect. The trial high court judge, Justice G.O. Kolawole attached no condition to his release. The judge also ordered the then Inspector General of Police, Mr Mike Okiro, to ensure the protection of Masaba's fundamental rights to life, liberty and privacy, as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of Nigeria, through theNiger State Commissioner of Police. Then, Masaba returned to his hometown, Bida, on 13 November 2008.
Contrary to some media reports, that Masaba divorced 82 out of his 86 wives, he refused to divorce any of his wives and denied ever agreeing to such.

In July 2011, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, the governor of Niger State, justified the position of Masaba's refusal to divorce any of his wives when he was quoted, "though we have Sharia in place in the state, but we have no law to pin him (Masaba) down".

The Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly, Barrister Adamu Usman, disclosed that various attempts to prosecute Masaba ran into hitches because there was no provision in the law of the state to effect his prosecution.

Barrister Adamu Usman ,Niger state Attorney General said:
"As Attorney General then I personally appeared before Sharia court, Minna, as prosecutor to prosecute the man but later discovered that Sharia courts in Niger State cannot deal with the case. No provision made in Penal code C.P.C or sharia administration of Justice law to deal with such cases."

Alhaji Muhammadu Bello Abubakar Masaba Bida, who is living peacefully as a law-abiding citizen of Nigeria in his hometown, Bida,said rhetorically that: "Large number of wives? I only have 97 wives. I am still going to marry more. I will keep marrying them for as long I am alive. Whoever is fighting me because of my wives or love life, such an individual has missed it. Left for me, I would have married maybe two wives, but what I am doing is divine. It is an assignment and I will keep marrying till the end of time. I just want to advise those fighting against the number of my wives to stop because such people are waging war against God, their creator.”

(Additional Story: Wikipedia)

NB: As far as am concern, this gentleman is a law abiding citizen, he never breach any law of the land, and hence he is enjoying his fundamental human right, period.