I keep wondering what happened to the woman who promised me heaven and earth; the woman who vowed to be the best wife in the world. I really don’t know what my wife has turned into.”
These were the words of a 39-year-old civil servant, Oluwasegun Dosu, as he prayed the Lagos Island Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 12-year- old marriage to his wife, Adenike.
The petitioner said his wife doesn’t cook for him nor clean the house, adding that she was fond of going out without his consent and returning home late.
“I used to be responsible for the school fees of three of my wife’s siblings when they were living with us. However, I asked them to move out of my home when I caught one of them having an affair with a man. My wife was obviously miffed. As a result, she fought me and tore my dress,” he said.
He also said he takes care of everything in the house, lamenting that even when he spent so much money on Adenike’s business, she couldn’t make account of it.
“Last year, she left the house with our children without any sign. All I want is our children. I want them in my custody,” he said.
The 38-year-old civil servant, Mrs Dosu, in her defence, said her husband was lying, saying they usually had quarrel over unnecessary issues.
She said: “I met my husband when we were in secondary school. Though we lost contact for years, I met him again while in university where he managed a business centre. I was in another relationship then, but when my father was against it, I gave my husband another chance.”
The respondent said they got married in Cotonou after several meetings.
“My husband collects money from people on the pretext of issuing them visa but he never did. There was a time he did the same for a police officer. When the harassment was too much, he ran away to Cotonou for a year,” she said.
She further said her husband smokes marijuana and visits Afrika Shrine often, adding that he always beat her when she seized his money and weed to prevent him from going out.
“There was a day he was arrested at an uncompleted building, smoking marijuana, by a vigilance group. I was embarrassed,” she said.
The mother of three described her husband as stubborn, saying: “There was a time my husband was advised not to drive himself but he didn’t listen. The day we went out together, he hit a woman, but in an attempt to run away, we were caught. They wanted to beat him but because of the love I have for him, I told them I drove and that was how I saw myself in the police station.
“My so-called husband never visited me in detention until some people brought a report, which said the woman was alive; that was when my husband came to bail me.”
Mrs Dosu said the reason she left the house last year was because her husband tried to sleep with her with juju.
She said: “He wanted to travel that morning and we decided to make love. The play was intimate until suddenly his manhood became soft. I jokingly asked if his girlfriends put something on it but he didn’t answer. As I used my hand to make his manhood erect again, I realised it was oily.
‘’He claimed he had boil on it but I was shocked when he opened his wardrobe and showed me a horn where he kept the oil. As I speak, I keep wondering what his intention was. I left with our children that day on the pretext of visiting a friend.”
The court’s President, Chief Awos Awosola, adjourned the matter till August 31.
