She brought in another man’s child, slapped, spat on me —Husband
that he is no longer interested in the union with his wife, Tosin Onifade.
Tunde told the court that his wife was stubborn, quarrelsome and always fighting him. He added that the paternity of their last child was in doubt.
He, therefore, prayed the court to dissolve their marriage and ascertain paternity of the baby.
Tunde stated that:”I’m a retiree and now work as a consultant to a company in Lagos. I travel to Lagos during the week and return at weekends.
“My wife and I have been married for 12 years. She sells crates of eggs and in June 2012, I gave her N50,000 to boost her business. Three days later after returning from Lagos, I discovered she had sold my car.
“Since she knew I stayed more in Lagos than Ibadan, she took to staying out late. She would stay out as late as 9:00 pm. I complained about this, but she refused to change.
“On June 26, 2013, I returned from Lagos around 7:00pm and met the gate to our house locked. I knocked from 7:00pm till 10:00pm but got no response. I tried her number but couldn’t reach her. I further threw stones on the roof top, yet there was no response. I slept in a friend’s house that night.
“When she came home the next day, she told me she went for vigil. I knew she was lying but I held my peace, “he said.
“When I retired, I told her we had to be sensible with our spending and that we were putting a stop to childbearing. I believed she saw reason with me.
“But she kept coming to my room in the night and we would make love. She later told me she was pregnant. I refused to claim the pregnancy because I knew she was not faithful to me.
“I wasn’t happy throughout the naming ceremony because I was convinced the child is not mine.
“I was watching television with our children one night and I asked one of them to bring my phone. She mistakenly brought her mother’s phone which was the same with mine. Few seconds after, a text message came in which read, ‘My sweetheart, how is our baby doing? Always loving you.’
“I showed her and our children the message which was a proof that I was right that the child was not mine. She begged and wept throughout the night, but insisted the child was mine, “he added.
“Few weeks after this, she went out and came back around 8:00 pm. I showed my displeasure and she explained that she was coming from her farm. I told her to take me to the farm but she has refused to do so till date.
“On February 2 of this year, I took her out to a recreation center and we sat at a table to drink. Immediately we sat down I noticed that she making eye contact with two men sitting two tables away from us.
“One of them walked towards her and asked if she was Mrs Bioye and she answered ‘yes’. The man said he felt so because of the looks of the baby she had with her.
“On February 22, she went out and came back late again. I locked the gate and she jumped over the fence. When she came in she slapped and also spat on me.
“I came to court on March 14, after which her brother prostrated and begged me to settle our issue out of court. I agreed to, but I knew she wasn’t going to change.
“On May 1, she came home around 8:00 pm with the children. I decided I wasn’t going to open the gate but I later did because of the children. I didn’t know she was hiding behind the flowers; as I opened the gate to the children, she forced herself in also.
“She slapped me, rushed in and destroyed my electronics.
“I have packed her belongings out of my house thrice, but she sent people to beg me.
“She has now locked the door to my room and kept the key. I now sleep on the carpet in the sitting room, “he concluded.
Tosin rejected her husband’s plea of divorce stating the welfare of her children as her major reason.
“My lord, my husband is a wicked man, he married six wives before me, but they all left him due to his wicked ways.
“I decided not to agree to his prayer of divorce because I don’t want my children to suffer. I know him very well, he’s taking all these steps because he wants to marry another wife. No woman can take care of my children like I do, “she told the court.
“He brought me all the way from Jos with a promise to take care of me, but he changed when I got here. He told me not to work and I reported him to his father after which he reluctantly agreed that I start a business.
“He gets angry easily and had refused to leave feeding allowance on many occasions. Since he came to court, he had stopped giving us feeding allowance.
“He was fond of locking the store so that I would not have access to the food there.
“He locked the store on one of the Sundays and since we had nothing to eat, I took our children to my father in-law’s house. We came back around 8:00pm and met the gate locked. When he finally opened the gate, he beat the hell out of me.
“He also destroyed all the boxes I brought from the North, “she stated.
“He told a lie about our last child. The child is his. He doesn’t want the baby because she is a girl. I have had four girls for him.
“When I went for family planning he said I did that so that I could mess around with other men. I, therefore, removed it.
“Any time we made love, I always requested that he used condom, but he always refused.
“The message he made mention of was from one of my customers known to him. The man was helping us get a land. The message read, ’How is our baby, greet my beautiful children.’
“Alhaji is fond of locking me out of the house which I find embarrassing. The last time he did it was our neighbours who gave me ladder which I climbed into our compound.
“The last time we fought, he told me he had consulted lawyers who would throw my things out.
After listening to both parties, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade , stated that more evidence would be needed.
He, therefore, adjourned the case till July 7 and demanded that both parties come with their witnesses.