The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Court dissolves 17 years marriage over adultery

    An Osogbo Grade II Customary Court on Tuesday dissolved the 17-year-old marriage between Funmilayo Kareem and her husband Saliu, over adultery.

    In his judgment, the President of the court, Chief Bolarinwa Popoola, held that the marriage ended when the petitioner left the respondent’s house had a child for another person.

    “Adultery is and has always been a major cause of divorce. This marriage is hereby dissolved with immediate effect,’’ he held.

    Popoola awarded custody of the children who were above the legal age of six to the respondent and granted the petitioner right of access to see the children at any time.

    Funmilayo, a mother of three, had urged the court to dissolve the marriage on the ground that her husband was a dirty man and always cursed her whenever they fought.

    “The major reason why I want to divorce him is that he is a dirty man, and he fights and curses me a lot.

    “I do not know how I became his wife, only God knows, I was forced to marry him, until now, I do not know his people.

    “About two years ago, he told me to follow him to a prophet, I refused to go, so he asked me to leave and I moved out since 2012 and we have been separated since then,” she said.

    Kareem denied all the allegations and urged the court to grant his wife’s request.

    “It is not true that she was forced to marry me; we knew each other for about a year before I married her.

    “We even went to pay her bride price to her family. What actually happened was that she became adulterous and I reported her to her parents, they denied it.

    “She claimed to be attending vigils, but I got to know that she was sleeping about; I once did not allow her to go for the vigil but she insisted and left without my permission.

    “I went to the pastor and asked of her, the pastor denied seeing her and he called her, which was when she said she told me a lie to
    leave the house.

    “The reason why she came to court is that she has a child for another man, she even left my house with the pregnancy,” he said.

  • Who killed Lagos APC chief?

    Who killed Lagos APC chief?

    who killed Alhaji Azeez Asake, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos last Saturday?

    The APC and a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, cried foul yesterday over his death, demanding a probe.

    Asake was killed after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rally in Lagos last Saturday, which was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan and the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, among others.

    In a statement, Lagos State APC Publicity Secretary Joe Igbokwe alleged that  Asake was shot dead by the notorious Abuja group loyal to a serving minister from the state.

    It recalled that two weeks ago the same group allegedly shot dead one Wasiu Lawal in Ajah where APC members were holding their weekly meetings. It said no arrest has been made.

    APC said it has not been informed of any arrest made in connection with the killing of Asake’s death. The party warned that if the ‘murderous’ gang “are not called to order, they would create further crisis that will lead to bloodshed in Lagos”.

    Hon Okoya-Thomas, representing Lagos Island Federal Constituency condemned what she called the “gruesome murder” of Asake.

    Okoya-Thomas decried violence and thuggery in politics, stressing that they are threatening the peace of Lagos Island and the state in general. She called on security agencies to bring to justice the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

  • Fish out fraudsters, advisory council told

    The Lagos State Community Development Advisory Council (LSCDAC) has been asked to ensure that those who defrauded Community Development Committees (CDCS) and Community Development Associations (CDAs) do not go scot free.

    Governor Babatunde Fashola, who was swearing in the LSCDAC executive, urged the council to monitor, report and discipline those who mismanage CDCs’ and CDAs’ funds.

    Represented by the Commissioner for Rural Development, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, Fashola said the occasion marked another milestone in government’s effort to mobilise CDAs to participate in governance.

    He said government encouraged the formation of CDAs to ensure adequate community influence and control in development initiatives.

    Fashola charged the council to plan, co-ordinate and execute community development projects and ensure compliance with government policies and programmes.

    He urged LSCDAC to co-operate with council chairmen to ensure execution of development projects at the grassroots, urging the group to prepare its 2015 budget and pass to his ministry.

    LSCDAC chairman Alhaji Tajudeen Quadri hailed the government for its support for the LASCDC, promising to work to ensure that CDAs and CDCs are accountable and supervise government projects in their domains.

    Present at the ceremony were Chairman, Lagos Mainland Local Government Rufus Oladele Adekanye,  Chairman, Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Abduwahab Olajide Jimoh,  Vice Chairman, Mainland Local Government, Rashidat Omolola Essien, member, representing Lagos Mainland Constituency 11 in the House of Assembly, Moshood Olanrewaju Oshin, the Special Assistant to the governor on Rural and Social Development, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe, and the outgoing Permanent Secretary of the Rural and Social Development Ministry, Mr. Olatunde Agoro.

  • ‘Help save our baby’

    ‘Help save our baby’

    •Parents agonise over N1.6m bill for son’s surgery

    They waited for two-years for their bundle of joy. After several miscarriages, the baby came on October 26, 2012. Rather than develop like a normal child, the growth of 23-month old Isaac Eyitayo Pamilerin Timileyin Agbo is stunted. Reason: he has a congenital heart defect which requires surgery to correct.

    But there is a snag – his parents do not have the N1.6million required for the surgery. That was the amount as at March when a consultant paediatric cardiologist recommended him for surgery in India.

    His mother, Mrs Juliana Agbo (31), is seeking assistance from well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to save her baby.

    Mrs Agbo started having complications three months into her pregnancy in March 2012.  She almost lost the baby to constant bleeding and was rushed to hospital.

    “I was admitted for about two weeks, I was treated and discharged but when I got back home, the same issue started again. I was admitted again at another hospital. Luckily for me, the child escaped that process. After the scan, we were told the baby was alright. And although my job is not strenuous in any way, I was asked to stop work and anything that would put the baby at risk. I stopped working on Wednesday, April 4, 2012.

    “At that time and even later on, the doctors didn’t see anything wrong, I was told there was no problem. I went ahead to register at the General Hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos so that they can monitor me. I was delivered of a baby boy on October 26, 2012. Although the stress was too much when I wanted to deliver: they induced me to start the labour. I gave birth, and they didn’t see anything was wrong; even before then the scans did not show my baby had hole in the heart.”

    Three months after Eyitayo’s birth, he was diagnosed of having a hole-in-the-heart. Mrs Agbo said: “I was so happy when I had him that now at least, I have my own child. Before I had him, I had many miscarriages. So you can imagine how I feel when we discovered he has heart problem a week after his naming. Then, we noticed some irregularities in his breathing and was not comfortable with his breathing, which was very fast. We took him to the General Hospital at Ikorodu where he was diagnosed of Bronchiole Pneumonia and the doctors prescribed some drugs. But when we gave the child the drug, he couldn’t sleep.

    “We took him to a health centre close to our house where a doctor with Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) checked him and after asking us some questions, he told my husband that our baby has heart problem but he cannot say how the heart problem is. He then referred us to LASUTH at Ikeja.”

    At LASUTH, after series of tests, that Baby Eyitayo, who was three months old then, was diagnosed of having congenital heart disease. According to the doctor’s report, signed by the consultant paediatrician/paediatric cardiologist, Eyitayo has “large perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defect partially covered by RCC, double chambered RV, Tiny PDA with severe pulmonary Hypertension.” It added: “Patient requires surgical correction of the defect which will cost an estimated sum of N1.6million, including travels.”

    Mrs Agbo said: “Through the X-ray, it was discovered that infection was in his heart; he was given antibiotics. But we were asked to do an ECO Scan where the result showed that my baby has a hole in the heart and needs to undergo a corrective heart operation in India to save his life. When I was shown the hole on my baby’s chest on the computer, I almost fainted and felt great pain. He was merely three months old then, and had become so thin, weighing 2.8kg when he should be weighting above 6 or 7kg. We were told that it would cost us about N1.6 million for the trip, which would cover the travel expenses and medical bill.

    “My sister, since then we have been running everywhere to see if we can raise the money. My husband, who has been catering for us since, works at a fish farm; and I have stopped working to care for my child. The burden is already too much. We even wrote to Lagos State Ministry of Health through LASUTH for assistance. I am sure there must be a long queue of persons seeking help like us from government because since April last year that we wrote, we have not received any response. But my baby’s case is getting worse. When help was not coming from any quarters, we resorted to prayers.”

    Mr and Mrs Agbo, who visited The Nation’s corporate office in Matori, Lagos, are praying Nigerians to help save their Eyitayo.

    “We prayed to God to give us a wonderful child and we did. Despite what we are passing through we are still happy having him. But we feel bad for the pain he is passing through. We need help to do so. That is why we have come to the public: please, help us save our son. We are telling people to look at us and help us,” the couple said.

    An account has been opened at FirstBank with number: 3086969070  under his name: Agbo Isaac Eyitayo .

  • My wife is evil, wasteful, says man

    •‘I don’t know why he hates me’

    A 62-year-old property agent, Deji Odutola, aka Hadji White, has prayed the Customary Court in Alagbado, Lagos to dissolve his eight-year-old marriage to Sherifat. Oduntayo is accusing his wife of cruelty, covetousness and dishonesty.

    The marriage, which was sealed under Native and Customary Law in 2006, is blessed with a male child.

    “My wife is evil. Even before I married her, I had allocated all my property to my children here in Nigeria and abroad. I, however, added a caveat: that I could take everything back, if not properly managed.

    So, I gave my wife the house that my first daughter couldn’t maintain and we agreed she would be giving me some amounts of money annually. When she was due to make the first payment, she defaulted. Instead, she spent the money on her six children from her previous marriages.

    “This is the third year and my wife hasn’t given me a kobo from the house I built with my sweat. When I celebrated my birthday, my wife couldn’t make any financial contribution. She only bought a standing fan for me, which I returned because it was the least I expected from her.

    “I have been wearing white dresses for 37 years, so I don’t want my reputation tarnished in anyway; otherwise, I would have engaged some hoodlums to throw her out of my house. She keeps giving flimsy excuses, saying she doesn’t know how to pack her things. She even claims that the house is her son’s share of the property I allocated. But it is a blatant lie.

    “I think our marriage had crumbled before we got here because it’s over three years since I slept with her or even saw her. All I want is the money she collected for four years. I want her out of the house and out of my life, he said.”

    In her defence, 45-year-old Sherifat said:” I really can’t figure out when the problem started. This is because among his 10 wives, I have always been treated as a slave. I have always endured the insults and abuses because I am tired of sleeping under different roofs.

    “When I was expecting our child, he complained of sleeping beside an expectant mother, adding that it made him broke.  Surprisingly, 41 days after I was delivered of the child, my husband asked me if the child was his or someone else’s.

    “My husband has moved me to three different houses for no genuine reasons. I change houses like clothes. Contrary to his claim, he didn’t allocate any house to my son.

    “I used the money I got from the tenants to renovate the house because it was untidy. I wonder why he is asking for money now.  Since we moved into the house, he has not sent money for our son’s upkeep. When I tried to see him, he ordered his workers to throw me out. He doesn’t respect me at all let alone his child. Our son was barely two years old when my husband complained that he didn’t greet him. So, he said he won’t sign any document in my son’s name.

    “I don’t know why he said he is just seeing me after three years. I remember we saw each other at a hotel recently and we even made love that day.

    “Recently, my husband’s friends rough-handled me, seized my items and took me to another house, as ordered by my ‘rich’ husband. I refused to stay there because it was deserted and it had ‘For sale’ boldly written on it. If he can allocate the house to my son, I will gladly live there; otherwise, I will go back to the house I renovated.

    “I don’t know why my husband hates me because he has allotted some property to some women he married after me and the children he had after my son. I don’t want a divorce.”

    The court President, Mr. Olubode Sekoni, invited the parties to a chamber discussion and ordered them to bring four relations each.

    The case was adjourned till September 29.

  • ‘I can’t stand other men staring at my wife’

    A middle-age man, Ayoola Elugbaju has asked the Alagbado Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 17-year-old marriage to Remi.

    He is alleging that she is troublesome and fetish.

    In tears, he said: “My wife acts like the ‘boss’ in our home. She disrespects me and disregards my opinion on all issues. She recently disgraced me in public. On that day, she came to meet me at a bar in our neighbourhood, broke some bottles and ordered me to go home. I was so sober and embarrassed that day because I was with my friends.

    “ She has a caustic tongue.  She hurls abuses at my parents at will. She calls my mum pepeye and my father Baba gie gie. It is clear that she doesn’t see any wrong in what she does or says.  I have always advised her to dress decently because I can’t stand any other man staring at her. But she prefers to expose her body like a whore. Whenever she returns home from any social event, she would happily pick her calls in my presence and tell the caller that she is home safely. Sadly, I can’t talk back.

    “I have now become the launderer in our home because of my wife’s arrogance. Even if I don’t matter to her, should our children suffer lack of motherly love and care when she is still alive?”

    Remi, however, said: “I admit that I harassed him in the public sometime ago, but it was just once. So, how can he say I am irresponsible? I don’t want our marriage dissolved and I don’t want our children with Ayoola either.”

    The marriage is blessed with five children.

    The court President, Mr. Olubode Sekoni, advised the parties to maintain peace and abide by the law.

    The matter was adjourned till October 2.

  • Tribunal orders Army to provide information on dead soldier

    Tribunal orders Army to provide information on dead soldier

    The Nigerian Army has been  directed  to provide information on the soldier whose death sparked the  July 4 disturbance in Palmgrove, Lagos, before the tribunal inquiry on Monday.

    Some BRT buses were allegedly burnt by soldiers protesting the alleged killing of their colleague by a BRT bus at the Palmgrove bus stop that fateful day.

    The tribunal chairman, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo (rtd) also directed the military to produce the autopsy report on the dead soldier.

    Justice Adebajo recalled three witnesses following the Nigerian Army’s request to cross examine them.

    The witnesses are Razak Mustapha, Ikechukwu Umeaku and Dapo Adediran, all workers of Mutual Model Transport Limited, a sub-operator of the LAGBUS.

    The witnesses said soldiers burnt the BRT buses while protesting what they called the killing of their colleague by a BRT bus.

    Asking for the witnesses’ recall, the army legal team led by Lt.-Col. Hycinth Ande said the army was not legally represented when they were testifying.

    “As it stands now, we want to take a date to cross-examine all the witnesses and we will equally be asking for copies of all the documents that they tendered before the tribunal.

    “We need time to go through the documents to enable us cross-examine the witnesses on them”, Lt. Col. Ande said.

    Justice Adebajo said the request was “in the interest of fair hearing”.

    He directed parties to, henceforth, produce sufficient copies of documents they intended to tender.

    Earlier, the Project Manager, Mutual Model Transport Limited, Mr. Abiodun Apata, said they traced  one of their buses coded MO63 to a military barracks.

    This, he said, was possible because of the tracking device in the bus.

    Apata, who did a demonstration before the tribunal, said the bus broke down and was stationary at the time of the incident.

    The tribunal resumes sitting on Monday.

  • How motorcyclist snatched our rifle, by policemen

    How motorcyclist snatched our rifle, by policemen

    The five policemen who lost one of their AK47 rifles to a commercial motorcyclist about two weeks ago have told investigators how it all happened.

    Inspector Ayuba Kehinde, Sergeant Obiora Chukwuka, Corporal Nuru Yusuf, Corporal Ita Agbom and Corporal Yusuf Omotayo, of the Operations department of the Lagos Command are being detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja.

    They claimed that a motorcyclist scaled a culvert, rushed to the back of their vehicle, snatched the rifle, jumped the culvert again, mounted a waiting motorbike and disappeared.

    The police top hierarchy is said to have described their story as incredible, noting that they do not deserve to be in the force.

    A source said: “They were on patrol duty at Olosan, Mushin area when the incident happened. According to the story they told the Commissioner of Police, they were driving when someone grabbed the rifle from Corporal Yusuf Omotayo. The man jumped the culvert, mounted a waiting motorbike and zoomed off.

    “Sergeant Obiora was the person driving. Omotayo and Yusuf were at the back of the vehicle. They said the man grabbed the gun from Omotayo while the vehicle was on motion. Immediately it happened, Yusuf and Omotayo repeatedly hit the body of the van to alert Obiora, so that he would stop, but he didn’t hear them.

    “When the van got to a traffic light, it stopped. Omotayo and Yusuf jumped down and ran to tell Obiora and Kehinde, their team leader, what transpired.

    “Due to the heavy traffic, the team decided to take one-way in an attempt to catch the motorbike rider, but it was already too late”.

    The policemen team said to have arrested a man who witnessed the incident, alleging that he knew the whereabouts of the motorcyclist.

    The police top hierarchy is baffled over how an unarmed man collected a rifle from four armed policemen.

    In his defence, Yusuf said he would have opened fire on the motorcyclist, but did not because the incident occurred in a market place.

    The Nation reported on September 8, that the policemen, who were patrolling in a vehicle marked ‘OPS ATTACK’, impounded a motorcycle and allegedly demanded N10,000 from the rider before releasing it.

    The motorcyclist was said to have pleaded with them to take N3,000.

    The rider was said to have mobilised his colleagues to attack the policemen at Ojekunle junction, near the Ladipo parts market, where one of them snatched the rifle.

  • NGO to mobilise youths for poll

    The Advocates for Collective Transformation (ACT) has unveiled plans to engage ten million youths for peaceful participation in the next year general election.

    Its president, Tayo Fashogbon said youths’ participation is critical to the success of the election.

    He said the youths will be engaged through  social media platforms, institutions of higher learning and religious organisations.

    “We know the youths is critical to the success of any election, we have seen how their peaceful conduct in Osun, Ekiti and Niger contributed to the success of the poll. We have map out our strategies to ensure we train the youths in all nook and cranny of the country.”

  • My wife is not contented, lacks respect, man tells court

    A 65-year-old baker, Olalekan Fadipe, has sought the dissolution of his 12-year-old marriage to Iyabode.

    He is accusing his wife of pilfering, lack of contentment, being direspectful and cantankerous.

    Fadipe told the Alakuko Customary Court in Lagos that he married Iyabode because his other wives and children disregarded him.

    He said: “From the outset, she concluded that my other wives were behind her being childless for some years.  I wanted peace, but the suffering continued on another level.”

    The marriage, which was contracted under Native and Customary Law, has produced two male children.

    “My wife and my first child are almost age mates. So, I am constantly compelled to attend to her needs.  I don’t think I over-pamper her because I really love her. I am a Christian, while she is a Muslim. Nevertheless, I still sponsored her trip to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. Which man would accept the responsibilities of another man’s children from his wife? I used to pay the school fees of those children, but I stopped because of her unruly behaviour.

    “Her attitude is totally repulsive. When one of my sons secured a job, my wife went behind to meet with the employer to recall the appointment letter.  In spite of her behaviour, I still give her N20, 000 monthly allowance.  She is too querulous. She is fond of raining curses on the family, except her children. She has her sachet water factory, but she still stole N200, 000 worth of flour from my bakery. She also stole money from my manager’s office. What else do I want from a woman who doesn’t listen to me?

    “I first brought her case before the court in 2011. But I was prevailed upon to withdraw the case after she promised to change her ways.  But I now know better that she can never change. If she wants me back, she should never talk ill of my other wives and children. She should also refund my money. But sincerely, I really crave a divorce.”

    In her response, 40-year-old Iyabode said:   “All that my husband said is true. However, I did not steal any money from his manager’s office; I only took the exact amount I needed. He is a caring husband and father. He has done more than what he mentioned. I am quarrelsome because he prefers to make love to me in the afternoon, while I prefer night. I always want him to sleep over in my house, but he doesn’t. I don’t want this marriage dissolved. “

    The court President, Chief Awos Awosola, fixed a chambers interview and adjourned the matter till September 26.