Alhaja Kaola: Ex-Husband Made Me Pay Before Sex, Then Leaked Our Tape

Popular Ibadan-based Islamic radio presenter and businesswoman Alhaja Kafilat Rufai, better known as Alhaja Kaola, has opened up in detail about the painful collapse of her former marriage, alleging that her ex-husband demanded regular financial payments before agreeing to intimate relations and later leaked a private sex tape after a disagreement.

Kaola, who hosts the Islamic programme Albayan with Alhaja Kaola on Fresh FM Ibadan and runs Kaola Communications as well as Kaola Travel and Tours, said one of the most devastating moments came when the man with whom she had children denied paternity of one of them. She linked that pain directly to the day the intimate recording was made and later released publicly.

“It is the day that pained me the most,” she said, describing how the same man she bore children for claimed he was not the father of one of them, only for that same period of intimacy to be recorded and later exposed.

She further alleged that intimacy in the marriage operated on a transactional basis. According to her, her then-husband would not oblige until money was paid and the bank alert confirmed.

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“It is like someone buying a man, because before my husband agrees to sleep with me, I must pay him money,” Kaola stated. She claimed the payments were made weekly through multiple channels, never in cash, sometimes involving trips to the bank or cheques handled by account officers, either before or after the act.

The revelations form part of Kaola’s response to a sex tape that went viral in March 2022. In the footage, she was seen performing oral sex on a man. She confirmed her identity in the video and squarely accused her former husband, Alhaji Sharafdeen (also known as Sharafa), of recording the encounter during their marriage and releasing it years later out of jealousy over her post-divorce success. The couple, who share five children, were married for about six years before their divorce in 2019. Kaola later remarried Alhaji Kassim Ayanmo.

At the time of the leak, Kaola maintained that the exposure was entirely her ex-husband’s wrongdoing and that he had previously threatened to release nude images and videos of her. Sharafdeen, reported to be living abroad, responded publicly by alleging that Kaola was overly demanding sexually and greedy with money from her pilgrimage-related business clients. He later issued an apology for his conduct amid the public fallout.

The scandal had lasting consequences. In May 2022, Kaola was stripped of the prestigious Islamic title “Ummu Li Muminat” (Mother of the Faithful). The action, endorsed by the Chief Imam of Ibadanland, was confirmed during Eid-el-Fitri prayers at the Agodi praying ground.

Kaola has consistently framed the entire episode as part of a broader campaign to destroy her image, career, and businesses. She has also denied separate allegations that she snatched her sister Maryam Rufai’s husband. Despite the trauma, she has expressed belief that her life remains guided by divine destiny.

The fresh circulation of her detailed account has once again drawn public attention to the long-running controversy surrounding the popular broadcaster.