An 84-year-old Nigerian Muslim preacher with 86 wives intends to marry more women despite an order from local Islamic chiefs to immediately divorce all but four of them, his spokesman said on Monday.
Nigerian newspapers reported that Mohammed Bello, who lives in Niger State in central Nigeria with his wives and at least 170 children, was ordered by local religious elders to divorce 82 of his wives by Sunday or leave the area.
Some newspapers said on Monday he had agreed at a meeting with local officials to divorce all but four of the women and had asked for time to return them to their families. But his spokesman, Mohammed Tahir, denied there had been any such deal.
"He is not going to divorce any of his wives. Rather he is going to marry more," Tahir said.
"Since he married those women, none of them or his children have ever gone out to beg for food or money. He has not broken any law and none of his wives have committed any offences that would be a basis for divorce," he added.
Many Muslim scholars say Islam allows men to have up to four wives at any given time who must be treated equally.
Bello has received a number of death threats in the last few weeks after the Nigerian media began reporting on his unusual marital situation.
"Sometimes people will call us, hide their numbers and tell us that they are coming to kill him and everyone in the compound if he doesn't leave," Tahir said.
"Is that fair? What offence has he committed?"
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