Nigerian man to divorce 82 wives - but keep four - Update

A Nigerian religious leader with 86 wives has accepted an Islamic decree ordering him to divorce all but four of them, local authorities say.

A spokesman for the emir of Bida said that Mohammadu Bello Abubakar, 84, agreed on Saturday to comply with the decree.

Last week one of Nigeria's top Islamic bodies, the Jamatu Nasril Islam, sentenced him to death.



The sentence was lifted but he was threatened with eviction from his home.

Earlier, Mr Abubakar had challenged Islamic scholars, saying there was no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives. "I have not contravened any established law that would warrant my being banished from the land ... There is no law that says one must not marry more than four wives."

"All my wives are with children and some of these are people I have married and stayed with for over 30 years. How can they expect me to leave them within two days?"