A woman, Zainab Alhassan, has ended her marriage with her husband, Tijjani Muhammad, after he allegedly refused to repair her N70,000 damaged mobile phone.
The divorce was granted on Tuesday by a Shari’a Court after Zainab sought to end the union through Khul’i—a type of divorce in Islamic law where a woman returns the dowry she received in order to secure her freedom.
Zainab told the court that she was no longer interested in continuing the marriage. She said the final straw came when her husband angrily smashed her phone while she was watching a movie on it.
“He got angry while I was watching a movie, snatched the phone from me, and smashed it. Since then, he refused to repair or replace it,” she told the court.
She added that she was willing to refund the ₦30,000 dowry paid by her husband just to walk away from the marriage. However, she admitted that she had no witnesses to support her claim that he broke the phone.
In his response, Tijjani said he had no objection to the divorce but denied damaging the phone.
“I didn’t destroy her phone, but I won’t oppose the divorce if that’s what she wants,” he told the judge.
The presiding judge, Mu’awiyya Shehu, ruled in favour of Zainab’s request for divorce based on Khul’i. However, the court rejected her request for the husband to repair or replace the phone, since she could not provide evidence.
“The divorce is granted. The request for the phone repair is dismissed,” the judge ruled.
The case, though unusual, highlights how minor domestic disagreements can escalate in marriages where communication and conflict resolution are lacking.
Shari’a courts in some parts of Nigeria, especially in the North, frequently handle family and marital issues according to Islamic principles, including Khul’i divorces, which allow women to exit marriages under certain conditions.
