The Nation Newspaper

Tag: divorce?

  • Christians must avoid alcohol, divorce, says James

    The General Overseer of Glory Christian Ministries, Lagos, Pastor Iruofagha James has strongly condemned the high level of alcoholism and divorce among Christians.

    He spoke ahead of the church’s annual eight-night of prayer and praise billed for August 1 – 8 with the theme: “The God of signs and wonders”.

    James is angry that many Christians are addicted to wines under the pretence that they have low alcoholic contents.

    He said it is better for Christians to altogether avoid alcoholic drinks because of their addictive tendencies as well as medical reasons.

    Christians, he argued, should be filled with the Holy Spirit, instead of wines.

    On divorce, he lamented that many Christians are embracing it as an option owing to certain inexcusable factors.

    James declared that God hates divorce and no reason is good enough to any Christian to consider leaving his or her partner.

    Marriage, he said, is a lifetime contract that can only be annulled by death.

    He said men chasing women they have no intention of marrying are like dogs chasing cars they have no intention of driving.

    Describing such men as fools, he said they merely burn away godly resources, strength, character and value deposited in them for vain pleasure.

    He challenged Christians to see their spouses as partners regardless of their weaknesses.

  • Lagos handles 4,035 rape, child abuse cases in one year

    Lagos handles 4,035 rape, child abuse cases in one year

    The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said in the last one year it handled a total of 4, 035 cases ranging from rape, child abuse, sexual assault, sexual abuse, defilement, divorce, matrimonial issues and child’s custody and maintenance, just as it vowed not to shy away from prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence crime no matter how highly placed in the society.

    The State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, who disclosed this during a press briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa on the activities of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) in the last one year, said government, through the agency, equally handled a total of 192 cases.

    Out of the 192 cases, Kazeem said the government handled 89 domestic violence cases, 62 defilement cases, 18 rape cases, 6 attempted rape, 10 child neglect and 7 child abuse cases, while 92 cases are presently being heard in court.

    Kazeem said that the State Government under the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has a zero tolerance for issues relating to domestic violence and child abuse and would not relent until the scourge is reduced to the barest minimum.

    He said agencies of government, including DSVRT, Office of Public Defender (OPD) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), among others, have been mandated to ensure that while perpetrators of the act are brought to justice, victims of domestic violence are given succor towards their rehabilitation.

    “As regards provision of shelter for victims, the Ministries of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and Youth and Social Development as well as strategic partners NGOs have played key roles in ensuring that victims were evacuated to a safer environment of shelter homes.

    “All the victims of sexual assault received medical attention from Mirabel Centre and State Hospitals, and so far, 50 of such cases were charged to court,” he said.

    He said the essence of the press briefing today aside giving account of efforts of the State Government in the one year, it was also a means to send a strong message across that the government would not relent until the scourge is completely stamped out.

    “As we all know the issues of gender violence, violence against children and all forms of inhuman treatment against the less privileged has been a very critical issue for Governor Ambode. Right from when he was sworn in, he had said that this issue was going to be something he would pursue with passion and diligence. He has since then given support to the DSVRT, OPD and all other related agencies including the Police Force to fight this scourge in other that it should be eliminated.

    “Let me sound a note of warning here that no matter how highly placed you are in the society, if you commit any domestic violence crime, Lagos State will go after you and prosecute you in court,” the Attorney General said.

    He assured that the State Government would continue to build on its recent efforts and step up its campaign efforts to put the issue of domestic violence on the front burner.

    To this end, he said the DSVRT would on Friday, June 3, hold a free clinic for victims of domestic violence, rape at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa Secretariat, while they can seek counselling with trained professionals via their hotline on 08137960048.

     

     

  • Man starved of sex since 2012 gets divorce

    Man starved of sex since 2012 gets divorce

    An Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Thursday dissolved an 11 -year-old marriage between Mr Azeez Ige and his wife, Bola, over alleged sex starvation.

    The court’s president, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, in his judgment, said the court was convinced that the estranged couple was tired of the union, as all efforts to reconcile them had failed.

    “Since both parties consented to the dissolution of their marriage, this court has no choice than to dissolve the marriage.

    “The marriage between Mr Azeez Ige and Mrs Bola Ige is hereby dissolved from today.

    “Both parties are free to go their separate ways without any hindrances and molestation.” Omilola ruled.

    Ige, a 53-year-old civil servant, had approached the court seeking to dissolve his marriage, on the grounds that the wife had starved him of sex since 2012.

    “My wife is starving me of sex, whenever I wanted to make love to her she always fights me and my body is not a stone nor stick.” he said.

    He also told the court that his wife was fetish, a drunk, and had once tried to strangle him, adding, “she held my neck and wanted to kill me but God saved me.”

    According to him, Bola consumes excessive alcohol and misbehaves afterwards.

    The petitioner said that his wife had kept some strange materials like horns, calabash and other fetish items in his wardrobe.

    He added that the woman was in the habit of leaving her matrimonial home for up to a month without permission.

    “Whenever I question her she fights me. She always engages herself in a physical combat even with our son’s teachers when she goes there.

    “And she always fights me with knife, cutlass but will quickly rush to the police station to report and get me arrested.” he said.

    Bola, a 44-year old businesswoman, however, attributed her refusal to have sex with her husband to her fear of getting pregnant.

    “I denied my husband sex since 2012 because of my health condition. I gave birth to our only 10-year-old son through operation and I don’t want to experience such again.”

    Bola accused the husband of beating her frequently, a situation which made her to severally move out of their matrimonial home, to save her life.

  • I caught my wife with her supposed brother, hubby tells court

    I caught my wife with her supposed brother, hubby tells court

    A 40-year-old man, Mr. Sunday Oladipupo, has asked an Orile Agege Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his marriage with Bukola over alleged adulterous behaviour by his wife.

    “I caught my wife in bed with her supposed brother, I want a divorce,” Oladipupo, a driver, told the court on Thursday.

    The complainant lives at 7, Nmbosi Avenue, AIT Road, Alakuko, a suburb of Lagos told the court.

    “I caught my wife red-handed with a man she introduced to me as her brother, they were both naked and in the act.

    “She pushed me to beating her because I always feel jealous anytime I see her with another man.

    “Before I kill her and myself, it is better we part ways,” he said.

    Oladipupo claimed that Bukola did not respect him and left home at will and returned when she liked.

    He said that his wife left home since September 2015 with his children, aged four and nine years.

    “She was pregnant when she left my house but the most painful part was that her man friend called me on phone and told me to ask my wife about the paternity of our two children,” he said.

    The complainant told the court that he was tired of the union and wanted a divorce.

    However, Bukola denied the allegation but supported the dissolution of the union.

    “I am not adulterous and I was not pregnant when I left his house in 2015.

    “I left home because he beat me anyhow, I did not have peace of mind with him, I am tired of the marriage, I support the dissolution,” she said.

    The Court President, Dr Kayode Whenu, told the couple to maintain the peace and adjourned the matter to May 10 for further hearing.

     

  • Husband battering: Court dissolves 33-year-old marriage

    Husband battering: Court dissolves 33-year-old marriage

    Unable to withstand further beatings from his wife of 33 years, Emmanuel Osuya , 58, on Wednesday secured a divorce from the battering woman, Abigail.

    “My wife wants to kill me, she beats me almost every day with dangerous weapons. On three occasions, she broke my leg, preventing me from going out for days.

    “Due to her frequent beating, I got paralysed in 2012 and that made the beating unabated,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Osuya as pleading.

    An Igando Customary Court in Lagos dissolved the marriage, as its president, Mr Adegboyega Omilola said he was convinced that the couple could no longer live together as the petitioner insisted on divorce after several interventions.

    “The court has no choice than to dissolve the union in spite of the fact that the wife still claims she loves her husband.

    “The couple can no longer stay together because the marriage has broken down totally: both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to go their separate ways,” Omilola ruled.

    Osuya, a retired civil servant, had approached the court to dissolve his 33-year-old marriage over alleged battering by his wife.

    Osuya said that Abigail, with whom he had five children, was always threatening his life through battering, and that he was afraid she might kill him one day.

    Osuya also accused his wife of turning his children against him, thereby making them to hate him.

    “Abigail succeeded in creating enmity between me and my children, she tells them false and damaging stories about me in order for them to hate me.

    “So, my children only care for her by sending her money and other items every month, without extending their love to me. They always ignore me as if I do not exist,’’ the battered husband said.

    The petitioner also described his wife as a thief that was always stealing his money, rendering him financially broke.

    He said it became so bad that he could no more keep money at home because of his wife’s penchant for stealing.

    “She is not always satisfied with the money I give her, in spite of the fact that my children always send her money every month,’’ the petitioner said.

    Osuya added that Abigail also starved him of food and sex.

    He appealed to the court to dissolve the marriage, saying that “I am no longer interested in the marriage, I don’t want to die now, more so that I am out of love’’.

    The respondent also said that she had never stolen her husband’s money.

    The mother of five added that she used to cook for her husband whenever he gave her money for food.

    She begged the court not to grant her husband’s prayer that she was still in love with him.

     

  • My wife’s siblings ask me to divorce her, man tells court

    APETITIONER in a divorce suit, Mr Olusola Ogunleye, on Thursday told an Akure Customary Court that his wife’s siblings advised him to divorce her because of her stubborn nature.

    Olusola, who had been married to his wife, Funmilayo, for 13 years, and the marriage blessed with four children, accused the respondent of always threatening him with knives and broken bottles whenever they had misunderstandings.

    He said that whenever there was any misunderstanding between them, his wife was also fond of destroying my properties.

    The petitioner also said that Funmilayo had no respect for either him or the members of his family; in addition to keeping late nights.

    Olusola alleged that his step- daughter was the genesis of his problem between him and his wife, whom he claimed bewitched her mother and turned her against him.

    However, Funmilayo in her testimony denied all the allegations leveled against her by Olusola.

    Funmilayo said that her marriage had known no single day of peace since it was contracted 13 years ago.

    It had been characterised with incessant beatings, she said.

    “My husband was always beating me all through the periods of my four pregnancies as if he wanted to take my life,’’ she said.

    The respondent also alleged that her husband was irresponsible as he failed to pay their children’s school fees for the past three years, and neither provided their feeding allowances.

    The Court’s President, Mr Ayodele Omotola, cautioned both parties not to toy with their children’s future and admonished them to maintain the peace.

    Omotola ordered Ogunleye to pay N8,000 into the court’s registry’s account for the feeding of the children on or before April 22, pending the determination of the suit.

    He asked each of them to bring two elderly witnesses on May 9, the next hearing date.

  • Pope canvasses support for gay and lesbian

    Pope canvasses support for gay and lesbian

    Pope Francis has on Friday charged churches around the world to show harms of love to gay and lesbian.

    The pontiff called on churches to be more tolerant in practice, while not changing any official doctrines.

    He emphasizes that  ‘unjust discrimination’ against gay men and lesbians is unacceptable, downplays the idea of  living in sin, and suggests that priests should use their own discretion on whether divorced Catholics in new marriages can take Communion.

    He urged priests around the world to be more accepting of gay men and lesbians, divorced Catholics and other people living in what the church considers “irregular” situations.

    According to him, “A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws … as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives.

    “By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and growth,” he writes.

     

  • Woman seeks divorce over sex starvation

    Woman seeks divorce over sex starvation

    A Sales Manager, Mrs Okome Obasare, 41, on Wednesday pleaded with an Igando Customary Court in Lagos to terminate her marriage because her husband had denied her sex for three years.

    Okome, a mother of three, who accused her husband of infidelity, said that her husband had also barred her from entering his room.

    “My husband is dating our church woman leader and he always brings her home to pass the night.

    “When he chased me out of his house in 2013, that very day the woman packed in,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes the estranged woman as saying.

    “After evicting me from the house, he told my children that I was dead that they will never see me again,” she said.

    The petitioner said she had lost two pregnancies through constant beating by her husband.

    She told the court that her husband with whom she had three children in their 14-year-old marriage was a wife-beater.

    “My husband always beat me with wire and on two occasions, I bleed and lost my pregnancy and after that he gave me money for Dilation and Curettage.

    “He stops me from working and locks me inside the house and he will not allow me to go out, he beats me anytime he sees me outside or a visitor comes to visit me.”

    Obasare pleaded with court to end the marriage, saying she was no longer interested and that the court should order her husband to always grant her access to their children.

    But her husband, Ese, 59, a civil servant, denied all the allegations.

    He said that his wife did not lose any pregnancy.

    “My wife did not lose any pregnancy; she always gives birth to a baby anytime she is pregnant.”

    Ese said that his wife always flouted his orders and that he could not take that as head of the family.

    “My wife always disobeys my orders, she is disrespectful, she goes out at will and come back at will,” he said.

    The respondent said that he did not chase his wife out of his house but that she left on her own.

    He told court to grant his wife’s divorce wish, saying that he too was no longer interested in the union.
    The President of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, after listening to the estranged couple, adjourned the case till May 24 for judgment.

     

  • Why there are many divorce cases in Abuja – Residents

    Why there are many divorce cases in Abuja – Residents

    Some residents of Abuja on Monday identified some causes of divorce among couples.

    In separate interviews, they cited infidelity, lack of commitments, carelessness and undermining the importance of dialogue in dispute resolution, among others, as some of the causes of divorce.

    They noted that most of the causes of divorce were avoidable by respecting the law of marriage and being faithful.

    For instance, Mr Michael Eke, a civil servant with Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, identified insubordination, wife battery and interference from outsiders as other causes of divorce.

    He advised couples, especially those with crises in their relationships, to imbibe the culture of dialogue in resolving matrimonial issues and save their marriages.

    Eke said that the effects of divorce were indicated in the children of such affected home, insisting that such children were often delinquent.

    “Children from such homes are prone to abuse such as child labour and rape, among other social vices, especially the females.

    “Most couples take things that matter most for granted and a marriage that is taking for granted has a good chance of ending in divorce,’’ he observed.

    Eke said that marriages could be protected from crumbling if the couples had the fear of God in their dealings.

    Sharing similar sentiments, Ms Joyce Chukwuma, a staff member of Federal Ministry of Information, Abuja, cited infidelity, religious differences and infertility as parts of the causes of divorce in some cases.

    She urged couples to shun extra-marital affairs to build a lasting family and decent society, noting that divorce “builds up slowly when people overlook things that matter most.

    “Lack of commitment to the principles of marriage has also been identified as one of the factors leading to divorce.

    “When partners seek physical and emotional support elsewhere; when one party is not ready to forgive other, then divorce comes in.

    “The social effects of this (divorce) for the children can be traumatic as they may feel unloved or isolated’’.

    In her opinion, Mrs Mariam Abdullahi, a house wife in Abuja, urged couples to avoid misunderstanding, advising them not to always look for faults.

    “When couples start listening to what people are saying, they can start having issues which, if not well tackled, can lead to divorce,’’ Abdullahi said.

    She called on couples to dwell more on the culture of togetherness, cooperation, making win-win decisions and preventing anger from degenerating into break up in relationships.

    To reduce the rate of divorce, Mr Obinna Okemuo, a banker, advised that potential couples should go into marriages when they were primed for the union.

    According to him, getting married at a very young age increases the likelihood of divorce because those who marry in their teens have much higher divorce cases.

     

  • Oyakhilome’s marriage dissolved

    Oyakhilome’s marriage dissolved

    A United Kingdom High Court has finally dissolved the marriage between the founder of Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his former wife, Anita.
    Consequently, Anita has severed her link with the church also known as Believers LoveWorld INC.
    A statement issued on Anita’s behalf by her solicitors: Attwaters Jameson Hill, said the divorce was finalised on February 8 after which she dropped Oyahkilome from her name.
    The statement published on the United Kingdom-based law firm’s website reads, “We have been requested by Anita Oyakhilome to confirm that on 8th Februray 2016 a decree absolute was pronounced in the High Court of Justice Principal Registry of the Family Division dissolving her marriage to Christian Onehirokpeana Oyakhilome.
    “Anita Oyakhilome would like to confirm that she is no longer involved in or part of Christ Embassy AKA Believers LoveWorld INC.”
    Anita, a pioneer member of Christ Embassy got married to Oyakhilome in 1991 and have two daughters.