Man has 86 wives

From Becca Smith:

Nigerian man, Mohammed Bello Masaba, of Bida, has more wives than candles on his birthday cake. He is 84 years old and currently has 86 wives, with some of his 150 children being older than his wives. Even though polygomy breaks Nigeria's federal and sharia laws, Bello Masaba avoided trouble with the law until he began to give interviews to the local media 'claiming he had special God-given powers and challenged accepted interpretation' of the Koran.

Bello Masaba reported to the Christian Science Monitor in prison that "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. I married 86 women and there is peace in the house – if there is peace, how can this be wrong?" However, Muslim doctrine states that no person can communicate with God or have more than four wives.

Bida is a highly religious city and after Bello Masaba gave his interview, the influential group known as Jamaatu Nasril Islam called for his death. The Emir (mayor) of Bina intervened in attempts to save his life. The Emir asked him to divorce 82 of the wives or to leave Bida. However, he would not do either and now is in prison.

It would seem logical that the wives would be happy to know that their husband was locked up, however, they are lobbying to get him out of prison because they are happy. Bello Masaba does not work and he will not explain where he gets money to support his massive family. All of his secrets have made the people of the town accuse him of witchcraft.