The Nation Newspaper

Tag: my husband

  • ‘My husband prefers his dogs to me’

    It is true that the last beating I gave her landed her in the hospital, but I don’t want her to leave me,”a remorseful husband, Ayotunde Asagidigbi, 48, has told a customary court where he is battling to save his eight-year marriage.

    His 42-year-old teacher-wife, Kemi, is praying the Alakuko Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve their marriage. Her husband, a dog trainer, she claimed, loves his animals more than her and their children.

    “He is not appreciative and he beats me frequently. He has no affection for his children and does not care about their upkeep. He is fond of keeping his dogs in my room. All these are why I want the marriage dissolved,” she pleaded.

    Mrs Asagidigbi relived how her husband sent her away for three months while expecting their first child, adding that she was dealt with when she protested the keeping of dogs in her room..

    “He strangled me despite his awareness of the surgery I had few months ago due to thyroid cancer. He pressed my stomach with his knees, threatening to kill me. He even said nobody would hold him for murder. My father once disowned me when I left him for two years when he nearly killed me. Following passionate pleas by my parents, I returned to him; still he would beat me as if we were not married legally,” the woman said.

    Asagidigbi said it was their last argument that led to the dislocation of is wife’s right arm.

    He said: “I train dogs worth thousands of naira. It is what I do for a living. I decided to put them in her room since one of my dogs gave birth, but she frowned at it. She is too temperamental, and she shows no regard to my folks, siblings.”

    The court President, Chief Godwin Awosola, punctured Asagidigbi’s claim that he loves his wife. According to Chief Awosola, such love does not translate to affection, attention, commitment and concern for his wife.

    He advised the wife’s father who was in court to ensure amicable settlement of the matter and adjourned the hearing till May 6.

  • How policeman killed my husband, by widow

    WITH tears flowing down her cheeks, a widow, Sherifat Omotosho, yesterday relived how his husband, Azeez, was shot dead by a policeman in her presence on Saturday.

    The incident, she said, occurred in Sogunle, a Lagos suburb, on their way home.

    “He was my husband, I have three children for him, this one I am breastfeeding is the third and aged seven months. It (killing) happened yesterday; I was with my husband in his car, when he was killed by the policeman,” she wailed.

    Her tears attracted sympathisers, who gathered to console her.

    On Saturday, the late Azeez went to pick his wife on the way to their 5, Jimmy Thomas Street, Sogunle home, he ran into his friend, who was arguing with a policeman. The deceased was said to have gone to find out what was amiss. A few minutes later, a shot rang out and he lay in dead in a pool of blood.

    Sherifat said: “As I was waiting in the car for my husband to come back, I heard a gunshot and rushed to the spot. On arrival, I saw that it was my husband that was shot. As I was trying to know whether he was alive, the police corporal raised his hand (my husband’s) and said ‘so he is still alive’ and shot him again in my presence. I became confused and nearly collapsed at the terrible sight but I managed to run to my father in-law’s house to alert them.”

    According to other eyewitnesses, the corporal identified as Gabriel A.K Awilo of the Sogunle Police Station was drunk at the time. He was said to have escaped into the police station immediately after the shooting.

    “Unfortunately, before people could come to my husband’s rescue, the corporal had tactically escaped to Sogunle Police Station. People did not know that he was the one that shot my husband dead. He held one boy I did not know and shouted ‘you have killed somebody; I must take you to the station. They did not know that it was a pretence to enable him escape,” Sherifat said.

    The Nation gathered that the late Omotosho’s friend, Olanrewaju Abiodun called other sympathisers who stormed the police station, demanding for the arrest of the policeman.

    Abiodun told The Nation: We assembled over 50 boys and marched to the police station to see the corporal, but we were prevented from gaining entry because the whole area was cordoned off by armed policemen with armoured tank. The policemen fired several shots into the air to scare us but we stood our ground.”

    Abiodun said after much pressure, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) met with the protesters following which he ordered Awilo’s detention.

    The protesting youths yesterday learnt that the corporal had been transferred to Area ‘F’ Command Headquarters for further investigations.

    “We moved to Area F Ikeja to see the Area Commander, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ASP) Tunde Adagunduro. We were told the body had been deposited at the Ikeja General Hospital, from there we were referred to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where we took possession of the body. As we speak, the bullets are still lodged inside the deceased’s body.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent, Ngozi Braide said it was a street party which degenerated into a fight which spilled to an area where the police were on patrol. The fighters, she claimed attacked the policemen and their vehicle, wounding a corporal.

    She said investigations were ongoing to ascertain who shot the deceased.