Woman drags stepchildren to court over inheritance

A mother, Tawakaltu Shekoni, on Tuesday dragged her stepchildren, Shehu Abdulsalam, Abubakar Abdulsalam, Abdulsalam Abdulsalam and Lawal Abdulsalam, to a Shari’a court sitting in Kaduna, over late husband’s inheritance.

The complainant through her lawyer, Muhammad Uthman said the deceased, Muhammad Abdulsalam died on December 20, 2025, after a short ailment leaving behind a wife and six children.

He mentioned that the four children who were the eldest had refused to give Shekoni and her six-year-old daughter their share of inheritance.

Uthman explained that the defendants had sold and shared most of the deceased’s property and were currently living in one of the deceased’s houses located at Kabalan Doki, Kaduna.

He prayed the court to intervene and share the inheritance accordingly.

The defendants who spoke through their counsel, I.O Usman, had earlier denied knowing Shekoni, saying all her claims were false.

‎The court had ordered the complainant on the last adjourned date to present her witnesses with regards to her marriage to the deceased.

Shekoni presented the siblings of the deceased, Yusuf Abdulsalam and Kudirat Abdulsalam, as witnesses.

The witnesses confirmed the marriage between the deceased and the complainant, saying it took place in Lagos State in 2015, while presenting their marriage pictures to the court.

They added that the couple were blessed with one child, adding that they were never divorced till he died.

The defendants through their lawyer said the complainant had been separated a year before their father’s death.

The judge adjourned the case to August 18, for the complainant to present more witnesses.