AkintundeOja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State has adjourned to September 6, the divorce case between a woman, Dasola Akintunde and her husband, Babatunde Akintunde.
Dasola had dragged her husband to court seeking that it dissolved their 8-year-old marriage. Dasola gave irresponsibility, brutality and violence by her husband as her reasons for coming to court.
She appealed to the court, if her prayer was answered, to grant her custody of their two children in order that she might give them adequate care.
She further asked the court to restrain him from coming to harass or beat her at her dwelling place or work place.
Babatunde acceded to divorce but disagreed that the plaintiff had custody of their children.
“My lord, if I don’t end my marriage now, my husband will kill me, “the plaintiff told the court.
“Our marriage has been faced with diverse challenges since we got married.
“When I was pregnant with our first child, he asked me to stay with my parents and disappeared into the thin air. I was with them till I put to bed. He never showed up throughout this period.
“My parents were responsible for my upkeep and prenatal care. They also bought all I needed for the baby. He came looking for me after I had the child and soon left.
“He has no respect for my parents and didn’t show any appreciation for all they did, “she added.
“He rented an apartment and we moved in but we were always fighting. He was always looking for every opportunity to beat me. He would lock me up in the room and beat me up over trivial issues.
“There was a day he locked me in and nearly snuffed life out of me as a result of the punches he gave me. He refused to open the door despite our neighbours’ loud banging on the door. They rushed to the police station to report. It took the intervention of the police to have the door forced open. We were both arrested and locked up in the cell for disturbing the peace of our compound and neighbourhood. It was my mother who came for our bail.
“At another time, he beat and kicked me. I fell and hit my head on our baby’s bath. He later locked me up in the room, “Dasola further stated.
“My lord, his younger brother was living with us when I had our second child. He is also wicked and self centered like his brother. He would sleep on the bed at night and leave me and the children to sleep on the sofa which wasn’t comfortable. It was an unpleasant experience. I told my husband when he was around but he waived the issue aside.
“My husband finally left home while I was on a visit to my parents’ house. He left with my belongings.
“He stopped caring for our children and didn’t pay their school fees. I took up these responsibilities. I dragged him to the welfare office but he insisted he wasn’t paying a dime on the kids which is one of the reasons I’m in court today, “she stated.
Reforming SARS
“My lord, I arranged that she stayed with her parents when she was pregnant with our first child because I work in Abeokuta. I knew it wasn’t a good idea leaving her alone at home, “Babatunde said.
“I’m also no more interested staying married to her because she’s a pain in the neck. Her parents take preeminence over me. She would abandon anything she was doing any time her mother called her and go and attend to her. I often complained about this but she refused to change. Her mother also supported her and turned her against me.
“I trained her in computer literacy and set up a business center for her. But immediately she started making money from this business, she began to misbehave. I gradually lost control over her.
“My friends paid me a visit last year Christmas and she refused to prepare them food. I reported her to her mum but she took side with her, “he stated.
“She has presented me as an irresponsible person before this court but she did not tell the court I gave her my ATM card on a regular basis to withdraw money from my account.
“I travelled to Kaduna to work and met an empty house on my return. She moved out of the house with both her property and mine. She went with three of my computers, laminators, a generator, sets of tables and two fans. (He presented the receipts of the items before the court.)
“I have sent money to her thrice for our children’s upkeep but she keeps denying me access to them, “he concluded.
After listening to both parties, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade stated that more evidence would be needed.
He, therefore, adjourned the case till September 6 and ordered the duo to come to court with their children and witnesses.
Sad bad!