50 Years After Separation, 70-Year-Old Man Marries Former Sweetheart

A 70-year-old man, Abubakar Sadiq Ladan, has married his former sweetheart, Hajiya Fatsuma Umar Kulani, 50 years after they were separated as young lovers.

The couple reunited at a wedding ceremony held at the Juma’at Mosque in Kwallaga, Bauchi State, on September 19, 2026, decades after life took them in different directions.

Ladan and Fatsuma met as young people and fell in love. However, their relationship was cut short after Fatsuma’s family moved away.

The couple managed to reconnect years later, but they spent only two days together before another separation ended their contact. At the time, they had no mobile phones or other easy means of staying in touch.

Both eventually married other people and built separate lives.

Fatsuma later worked as Manager of Programmes at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Bauchi, while Ladan spent part of his life abroad.

Their paths crossed again after Fatsuma’s marriage ended and Ladan returned from abroad. He then proposed marriage, hoping to revive the relationship they had lost decades earlier.

Fatsuma initially rejected the proposal, citing their age and suggesting that they remain friends or relate as members of the same family.

Ladan, however, remained determined. He sought the intervention of elders, who eventually helped persuade her to reconsider the proposal.

Fatsuma finally accepted, bringing an unexpected reunion to a formal marriage after five decades apart.

Recalling their journey, Ladan said, “After 50 years apart, here we are today — we are married.”

Fatsuma also recalled how their relationship began and the circumstances that separated them.

“We were together and were in love, but by God’s will, we were separated,” she said.

She added that although she initially declined Ladan’s proposal, she eventually changed her mind.

“Eventually, I accepted. And by the grace of God, today is the day our marriage has been solemnised,” Fatsuma said.

The marriage has since drawn attention in Bauchi, with the couple’s story offering a rare account of former lovers finding their way back to each other after five decades.