The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Igando customary court

  • Mother of three seeks divorce over demand for more children

    A mother of three, Mrs Oluwakemi Ucha, has filed a divorce suit over alleged battering by her husband for her refusal to have more children.

    Forty-year-old Oluwakemi told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos that she could no longer tolerate the frequent beatings.

    “My husband, Simeon, beats me like a baby; he threatens to kill me for refusing to give him more children, saying that three children are not enough.

    “Last month, he woke me up from sleep and started beating me with a wire. I shouted; people came but they could not rescue me because my husband locked the door before descending on me.

    “He told me that he wanted to send me to heaven since I refused to have more babies; he said that I am not longer useful on earth.

    “Since that day, I ran away from the house because I might die from the next beating,” Oluwakemi, who had been married to Simeon for 19 years, said.

    She showed the court some scars on her body as evidence of the battering, describing her husband as irresponsible.

    “He does not care for me nor the children; I feed him, pay our house rent and children’s school fees; he does not drop a penny but he wants more children,’’ the petitioner said.

    He prayed the court to dissolve the marriage to save her life.

    In his response, Simeon told the court that he wanted more children but his wife refused to cooperate.

    “I am not comfortable with three; if she has more, God will take care of them.

    “My wife is callous; while I and our family members were begging her to have more children, she aborted a three-month-old pregnancy; that is wickedness.

    “She takes family planning drugs without my consent,” he said.

    The 45-year-old motorcycle rider, appealed to the court not to dissolve the marriage, saying he still loved his wife.

    The Court President, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, asked the parties to come with some members of their families for possible resolution of their conflict.

    Omilola adjourned the case until May 16 for further hearing.

     

  •  My wife grabs and twists my testicles when fighting, Septuagenarian tells court

    An Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Wednesday dissolved the marriage between a 75-year-old businessman and his 51-year-old wife over adultery and threat to life.

    The petitioner, Moshood Adedapo, had told the court that his wife of 22 years, Balikis, was fond of grabbing and twisting his scrotum when fighting him.
    Adedapo, who sells building materials, said that Balikis always threaten to kill him by grabbing and twisting his scrotum.
    “Whenever my wife and I are fighting, she will quickly grab my testicles and start twisting them.
    “She will not leave my two balls until I beg and cry. Last week, she came to my room while I was asleep and grabbed my scrotum; she said that she will kill me, that I will not escape again.
    “I was crying and shouted for help and neighbours rushed to rescue me but still my wife refused to let go until I struggled to bite her hands and she released them.
    “It was after 20 minutes, that I was able to regain consciousness. My two balls have suffered in the hands of my wife.
    “She always tells me that she will kill me one day and I am afraid she will carry out her threat one day. Please, dissolve the marriage because I may not be lucky next time,” Adedapo said.
    The petitioner said that his wife was promiscuous.
    “There was a day she went to pass the night in one of her lovers’ house; unfortunately, the wife of her lover, who travelled, came back unannounced and caught them in bed.
    “She beat my wife mercilessly, stripped her naked and seized her clothes, I then received a call that someone was about to murder my wife.
    “I got the address and rushed there with some of my neighbours to rescue her,” he said.
    He alleged that his wife usually went out under the guise of attending vigil, not knowing that it was her male friend’s house she used to go.
    “I also caught her with a man she had introduced to me as her brother and I ordered her to pack out of my house, she pleaded and promised to change but she did not.
    “She used to deny me sex but preferred giving it to her other lovers,” he said.
    According to him, Balikis is always raining curses on their three children and that those curses were affecting them.
    Balikis, a petty trader, told the court that she denied her husband sex because he was fond of beating her.
    “Yes, I denied him sex because he used to beat me,” she said.
    The mother of three said that her husband turned their children against her.
    “My husband used to order my children to beat me up, all the scars on my body were as a result of the constant beatings I received from them,” she said

    Dissolving the marriage, the President of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, said the petitioner insisted on divorce after several interventions, adding that the court had no choice than to dissolve the union.
    “The court pronounced the marriage between Mr Moshood Adedapo and Mrs Balikis Adedapo dissolved today, both parties henceforth ceased to be husband and wife.
    “Both parties are free to go their separate ways without any hindrances and molestation,” Omilola ruled.

     

  • Woman to court: My husband rapes me in presence of our children

    “My husband rapes me in the presence of our children’’, a 40-year-old trader, Bolanle AbdulKareem told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Wednesday.

    Bolanle said her husband, Olasunkanmi, with whom she had three children in their 17-year-old marriage; always molest her whenever he got drunk.

    “Whenever my husband comes home drunk, he will want to make love to me by fire by force and I will caution him not to do it in the presence of our children.

    “He will beat me and make love to me by force while the children watch us.

    “There was a day I came back from work and I met my children, one on top of another doing what they always see their father do to me,’’ she further told the court.

    The petitioner also said her husband always threaten to kill her.

    “My husband derives pleasure in beating me. There was a day he beat me and broke my leg.

    “One day, he threatened to kill me, so I ran to one of my relative’s house.

    “My husband came there, he met my sister’s husband ironing his clothes; he snatched the iron from him and started chasing me with it.

    “Seeing his desperation, I ran into the street and my husband still chased me with the pressing iron.

    “Anytime, I reported him at the Police station the Police always tell me that it is a family matter and refused to caution him’’.

    She described her husband as an irresponsible husband and father, who did not care about the welfare and education of the children.

    According to her, Olasunkanmi neither cares for her nor the children, adding that that she is the one paying the school fees of the children.

    “He has a tricycle that he is using for business but he always use the proceeds to drink to stupor and usually loses self control’’.

    She begged the court to dissolve their marriage, adding that she was no longer in love with the husband.

    However, Olasunkanmi, who did not deny the allegation of raping his wife, however, begged the court not to dissolve the union.

    “Please, do not dissolve our marriage, I still love my wife, I know I have made a mistake; I will make amend,’’ he said.

    The 42-year-old commercial tricycle operator admitted that he used to beat his wife, whenever she flouted his orders.

    “I don’t derive pleasure in beating her but I only beat her whenever she disobeys my instruction.

    “The day I snatched the pressing iron from my in-law, I only wanted to use the iron wire to beat her and not to burn her’’.

    He said that he was not a drunk but that he drank moderately.

    The President of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, ordered the couple to come along with three members of their families for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

    Omilola adjourned the case till May 9 for further hearing.

     

  • My husband killed our baby, wife tells court

    “My husband killed our baby when he beat the hell out of me three days to my delivery.

    “When I was finally delivered of the baby, he was dead as he was confirmed to have been wounded while in my womb due to the battering. ’’

    Mrs Ekwutobi Mgbenka disclosed these to an Igando Customary Court in Lagos State on Thursday.

    She added, “He used to beat me; and when I was pregnant, the beating continued unabated.

    “Sometimes, my husband would naked me and poured grounded pepper on me before beating me,’’ she said.

    The 41-year-old businesswoman disclosed these while responding to a divorce suit filed by Edwin, her husband of 24 years.

    The respondent accused her husband of being a flirt, saying, he impregnated two married women.

    “My husband was having an affair; he got two married women with children, pregnant.

    “Edwin gave one of his married lovers the documents of four out of his 14 shops he built inside Igando Market without collecting a dime from her.

    “He also bought her a house in Ikotun, Lagos state,” she said.

    The mother of two said that her husband had been starving her of sex for the past four years and had now turned her to an abandoned property.

    She explained to the court how she lost her first two babies.

    “My first baby died through the medical doctor’s negligence, the second died through the beatings I received from my husband.’’

    She , however, begged the court not to grant her husband’s wish for the dissolution of the marriage.

    “Please, do not grant my husband’s wish, we both built the houses together but now he wants to push me out and bring in his `wives’,” she said.

    The petitioner, a 55-year-old businessman, Mr Edwin Mgbenka, had approached the court for the dissolution of his 24-year-old marriage over what he called his wife’s alleged threat to his life.

    Mgbenka said that his wife was always threatening his life with dangerous weapons.

    “My wife always tells me that blood will flow whenever she is fighting me. She stabs me with dangerous weapons.

    “There was a day she broke our standing mirror on me in my sleep because I refused to follow her to a church programme.

    “She always tells my apprentices that I will soon die that she will be the one to settle them.

    “Ekwutobi threatened to kill me if I marry another woman, and now I have two women after her.

    “She fought with one of the women that had a twins for me and that landed her in a police station,” he said.

    The petitioner alleged that his wife killed their first baby.

    “Few days after she gave birth to our first baby, it was discovered that the baby had hernia and surgery was recommended.

    “She was told not to back the baby but immediately after the surgery, she backed him and the baby died on her back,” he said.

    Mgbenka said that Ekwutobi was violent in nature and that she had broken his car windscreen on four occasions.

    He said that his wife used his money to buy a motorcycle for her man friend.

    According to him, his wife encourages his children aged eight and 13 to steal his money for her.

    He urged the court to dissolve the union that he was no longer interested and that he was not ready to die now.

    The court president, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, adjourned the case until May 30 for further hearing.

     

     

     

  • Court dissolves 7-year-old marriage over infidelity

    Court dissolves 7-year-old marriage over infidelity

    An Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Wednesday dissolved a seven-year-old marriage of a businesswoman on grounds of the husband’s infidelity.

    The Court President, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, dissolved the union of Mrs Francisca Obeeji and Mr Ezekiel Obeeji, who failed to appear before the Court.

    Omilola held that evidence before the court, including Ezekiel’s refusal to appear before the court, showed that the marriage had failed.

    ‘‘Throughout the duration of this case, the respondent refused to appear before the court.

    ‘‘Therefore, the court has no other choice than to dissolve the marriage.

    ‘‘Both parties are no longer husband and wife; they are free to go their separate ways without any hindrances and molestation,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Francisca had sought divorce, saying that Ezekiel impregnated a woman he introduced to her as his sister.

    ‘‘My husband stopped making love to me three months after our wedding; he brought a young woman home and introduced her to me as his sister.

    ‘‘He told me that she would be living with us, and I accepted.

    ‘‘After some months, his ‘sister’ got pregnant and my husband ran away with her to an unknown destination.

    “He sublet our apartment to another tenant without my knowledge,’’ she submitted.

    Frascisca said that she had to vacate the apartment when the new tenant moved in.

    ‘‘When I heard that my husband did traditional wedding with his so-called sister, I travelled to his hometown to confirm from his parents.

    ‘‘His parents told me they could only accept a fertile woman as wife. They told me to go and marry another man.’’

    The businesswoman submitted that Ezekiel never truly loved her but was after her money.

    ‘‘When he approached me for marriage, he was jobless, but when he pleaded with me to allow him to join me in my business, I accepted.

    ‘‘After our wedding, he took over the business from me,’’ she said, adding that Ezekiel was constantly beating her.

  • My wife has turned our home into a brothel, man tells court

    The 22-year-old marriage of Mr Tunji Oyedele, a 60-year-old Lagos businessman, may be dissolved over his wife’s alleged sexual recklessness and infidelity.

    Oyedele told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos, on Wednesday, that his wife, Rumoke, a 55-year-old trader, with whom he had four children, was promiscuous.

    “Whenever I travel, my wife brings men into our house; on two occasions, I caught my wife with her lovers in our bedroom.

    “On one occasion, I came home unannounced and caught her with one of her lovers in our bedroom.

    “On another occasion, I caught her with another man who she claimed was her Pastor.

    “She claimed that the said Pastor wanted to take her to a river for a special bath to avert spiritual attack,” he alleged.

    The petitioner further alleged that his wife was fetish and was always in possession of different charms.

    “I see different strange objects in my bathing water, food and everywhere in the house.

    “There was a day I entered her room in her absence and saw feathers tied with clothes and other diabolical objects.

    “I believe that my persistent illness, which has deferred medical solution, is as a result of her fetish acts.

    “I have been forced to leave my own house because I don’t want to die now,” he said.

    Oyedele presented the pictures of the charms as exhibits, and begged the court to dissolve the marriage as he was no longer in love.

    Rumoke, however, debunked the allegations, and stated that she and her husband had lived in peace until January 2016, when he married a new wife.

    “My husband and I never fought; but immediately he married another woman, his attitude changed.

    “His new wife accused me of sending hired killers to her and my husband turned me into a punching bag,” she said.

    Rumoke told the court that she was not adulterous.

    “The man my husband first saw in our bedroom was my classmate in primary school.

    “The other man was my Pastor, who came for spiritual purpose,” she explained.

    The respondent said that she was not ready to divorce her husband because she was still in love.

  • Man to court: My wife is a thief

    Man to court: My wife is a thief

    A 42-year-old businessman, Livinus Uwa, has told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos that he married a thief.

    Uwa made this known when he testified in his divorce petition against his wife, Chineye, on Wednesday in Lagos.

    He urged the court to dissolve his four-year-old marriage to Chineye because of her penchant for stealing his money in the wardrobe.

    “I married a thief, on severally occasions, my wife stole my money from my wardrobe, rendering me broke. The last time she burgled my room and stole N350, 000.

    “I reported the theft at the police station and she confessed to the theft, but the money was not recovered,

    “I have reported all her attitudes and stealing habits to both families, they called her but she refused to change,’’ he said.

    The petitioner accused his wife, who failed to appear in court after several summonses of abandonment, adding that since they married, Chineye had been appearing and disappearing.

    “When she was pregnant, she left the house to an unknown place and came back after she was delivered of the baby.

    “She abandoned our baby when she was 10-month-old; I have to engage a baby sitter to take care of her. When the baby was two years, I enrolled her in school and my wife reappeared,’’ he said.

    He described his estranged wife as a lazy and dirty woman, adding that “Chineye is lazy, she cannot cook, wash or sweep and I do the house chores.

    Uwa pleaded with the court to dissolve the marriage, since he could no longer condone her stealing habits, adding that he was no longer in love with her.

    In his judgment, President of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, dissolved the marriage.

    Omilola held that it was obvious from available testimony and the respondent’s refusal to appear in court that the marriage had hit the rock.

    He said throughout the duration of this case, the respondent refused to honour court summon, adding that the court had no other choice than to dissolve the marriage.

    “The marriage between Livinus Uwa and Chineye Uwa is hereby dissolved from today, both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to go their separate ways without any hindrances and molestation,’’ Omilola said.

  • Woman to court: Beg my husband not to divorce me

    A 50-year-old trader, Mrs Kehinde Adewunmi, on Thursday in Lagos broke down in tears while on her knees begging her estranged husband, Jamiu Adewunmi, not to divorce her.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Jamiu Adewunmi had approached the Igando Customary Court, Lagos State for the dissolution of his 24-year-old marriage to Kehinde, his wife.

    He alleged that Kehinde had converted to Christianity from Islam without his consent.

    Kehinde in her plea said, “Please court; help me beg him, where will I get a man at my age to marry me if my husband divorces me.

    “I am ready to make amends wherever I might have made mistakes; I am not ready to divorce my husband.

    “I still love him and besides, I do not want my children to suffer this action because they are innocent. Please, safe e my marriage,” the mother of four said.

    The husband and petitioner, Jamiu, 57, a businessman, had accused his wife of converting to Christianity without his consent in his petition before the court.

    “My wife was always telling me that she was going for an Islam programme called ‘Alasalatu’, instead she would secretly go to a church to worship.

    “I got to know when I broke into her room in her absence because, lately, she was always locking the room and would keep its key closed to her chest.

    “So, I was curious to know what she was hiding in the room.

    “When I entered her room, I saw pictures where she wore a gown and cap belonging to one of the white garment churches.

    “In the pictures, she posed with some other worshipers wearing the same uniform.

    “I don’t want her anymore because, I cannot condole another religion in my house except the one I am practicing,” he said.

    He accused his wife of not cooking for him regularly and whenever she did, the food would come late.

    “Kehinde had failed in her matrimonial obligations.

    “I had warned her several times but she wouldn’t listen to me. There is no point harbouring a wife that makes me hungry,” the estranged husband said.

    He urged the court to dissolve the marriage that he was no longer in love.

    The president of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, ordered the couple to come along with three members of their relatives each for a possible reconciliation.

    He adjourned the case to Aug. 30 for further hearing.

     

  • Woman to court: My husband dates four girls in our street

    Woman to court: My husband dates four girls in our street

    Mrs. Cecilia Ajayi, 42, on Thursday pleaded with an Igando Customary Court in Lagos State to dissolve her 20 years’ marriage with her husband, John Ajayi, aged 46.

    Cecilia, the petitioner, accused Ajayi, the defendant, of being as a womaniser.

    “My husband is a womaniser, he is dating four girls in our street and brings them into our matrimonial home.

    “On many occasions, he and his lovers had beaten me up whenever I prevented them from entering our room.

    “He was not satisfied with his lovers, as he severally made attempts to rape my younger sister,’’ the wife told the court on Thursday.

    She also accused John whom she bore three children of being a consumer of excessive alcohol.

    Cecilia said, “John is a drunk. After drinking to stupor, he will be falling inside gutter, talking in an incoherent manner.”

    She also claimed that her husband sent her packing because she was not educated, saying, “ he can no longer cope with illiterate.”

    The wife said that John refused to leave his family house since they got married in 1996.

    On three occasions, I was attacked by John’s family members over inheritance, she said.

    “My husband’s family wanted to kill me; they said that I was the one preventing my husband from sharing his late father’s property.

    “John always said that he could not relocate from his family house,” Cecilia said.

    She urged the court to end the marriage, saying that she was no longer interested in the affair because her life was no longer safe.

    The petitioner, John Ajayi (46), however, denied the allegations, saying that his wife ran away with a man because he lost his job and no longer financially buoyant.

    “Things were moving on fine until I lost my job and her behaviour changed, she packed out to live with another man.

    “She even gave birth to her new lover two months ago,’’ the author said.

    The respondent said that he could not leave his family house because he was the only son in the family.

    John, therefore, begged the court not to grant his wife’s wish adding that he was still in love with her.

    The President of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, after listening to the couple, adjourned the case to Sept. 27, his for judgment.

  • 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.