“My wife is always threatening to kill herself; she has attempted suicide on four occasions,’’ a 45-year-old carpenter, Waheed Tiamiyu, told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos.
Waheed said that his wife, Bukola, with whom he had three children, in their 13 years of marriage, was in the habit of threatening to kill herself.
“She once threatened to jump down from our balcony; I dragged her back and started begging her.
“The second was when she wanted to drink kerosene, the third was when she came to my room with a belt tied around her neck, She climbed a chair and wanted to tie the belt to the ceiling fan.
“The fourth was when she wanted to fall into a well,’’ he said.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the petitioner also accused his wife of infidelity.
“There is a particular man who was fond of calling her. He could call as much as 20 times in a day. I secretly saved his number from my wife’s phone.
“Whenever I asked my wife who the guy was, she would answer that he was her sister’s boyfriend.
“I called her sister and she denied knowing the man nor the phone number.
“I later investigated and I discovered that her lover is a powerful person.
Waheed added that his wife does not care for him.
“My wife cooks my food and hers separately. She will put assorted meat in her pot of soup and cook a shoddy soup for me.
“She also refused to wash my clothes. Anytime I gave her my clothes to wash, she would ask me to give them to my other wife,’’ he said.
In her reaction, Bukola said she only attempted suicide twice.
“I attempted suicide because my husband wanted to send me packing and I didn’t want to leave my children because I love them,’’ she said.
The mother of four said she gives her husband good food, whenever he drops good money.
She added that she was not dating the man as her husband claimed. The man according to her was a friend.
Bukola, however, consented to the dissolution of their marriage, saying she too was no longer interested in it.
The court president, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, ordered the couple to come along with three family members each, for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
He thus adjourned the case till June 28.