He sold my house, plot of land for N300, 000, bought an okada with it —Wife
Land‘I bought two plots of land but sold one of these to look after our children’s welfare because my husband has never lived up to expectation as the head of the home. I built a house on half of the remaining plot and moved in with my husband and our children. To my surprise, my husband sold both the building and the remaining half a plot of land for N300, 000 and used the money to buy okada.’
‘I contributed N60, 000 towards the building of the house, but any time we fight, she will throw my property out of the house and set them ablaze. She sought a buyer for the house by herself but got me arrested by the police after the deal was sealed.’
A woman, Laide Samuel has dragged her husband, Oluwole Samuel to Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, seeking that it dissolves their 21-year-old marriage.
Laide in her divorce suit, stated that her husband regularly shirked his responsibilities towards her and their children. She further accused him of selling her house and landed property without her consent.
The plaintiff thus prayed the court to separate them and give her custody of their four children.
Oluwole agreed to divorce but appealed to the court not to grant the plaintiff’s prayer on the custody of their children.
The plaintiff stated before the court thus:”My lord, I’m fed up with my marriage to my husband and I pray this honourable court to put an end to it today.”
“I bought two plots of land early in our marriage but left it undeveloped for years. During this period, my husband and I parted ways as a result of misunderstanding between us. This was later resolved and I moved back into his house.
“Immediately I moved in, he started shelving his responsibilities in the home and passed the bulk to me. I worked round the clock to feed and clothe the whole family and meet the other needs.
“My grandmother, seeing how much I was labouring to ensure we survived, advised that I sell a plot out of my two plots. According to her, I could use some of the proceeds to cater for our children’s education and the remaining to build a house on the other land. I discussed this with my husband and he saw wisdom in it. I, therefore, took to this advice and it worked perfectly well. I erected a building on half of this plot and we all moved in.
“My lord, I’ve never had peace since we moved in because he is always fighting me. He complains that he has become a laughing stock among his friends and in the neighbourhood because he is living in his wife’s house.
“He moved out of the house after we had misunderstanding and moved in again after our relatives mediated in the issue. We fought again after this and he removed one of my teeth with his blow. He was arrested by the police. The police after listening to both of us, counseled us and advised us to maintain peace.
“My lord, he suddenly came up with the idea that I sell the house and I declined. Seeing that I didn’t buy his idea, he went diabolical and started manipulating me.
“He brought home different people who were interested in the property and was constantly mounting pressure on me to sell.
“The last person he brought home showed interest not only in the house but the half plot of land. He and my husband agreed to the sum of N700, 000 and I was made to sign a letter of agreement under duress and handed over some of the documents of the properties to him. The buyer paid a deposit of N300, 000 and made an agreement with my husband to pay the balance at a stipulated time. Immediately this money was handed over to my husband, he went to buy an okada with it. This prompted me to make a report at the police station.
“The police arrested both my husband and the buyer, and were able to retrieve the documents from him, “she told the court.
“My lord, I’ve been the one shouldering the responsibility of the home and training our children in school. He’s not just interested in our survival. Our first child is presently working in Lagos as a housemaid.
“I pray this court to mandate him to be responsible for our children’s upkeep because I can no longer work as a result of the poor state of my health, “the plaintiff stated.
“I’m ready for divorce, ”Oluwole tells court.
“I’ve had no rest since we got married. She’s troublesome and fights like a mad woman. She’s presently not in good terms with her mother; so also is our first child. The last time she and her mother had a misunderstanding, she defecated in a potty and poured the content into her mother’s water container.
“She lied that I removed her tooth. She lost her tooth when struggling with her daughter for a bag of money.
“My lord, I contributed N60, 000 towards the building she claimed it’s hers so we both own the house. The most embarrassing thing is that anytime we fight, she will gather my belongings, throw them out and set them on fire.
“We both agreed to sell the house and plot of land. The plan was that I buy an okada from the proceeds and that we run a cooperative savings with the remaining. She was the one who brought buyers to purchase both the house and piece of land. I was therefore surprised when she invited in the police to arrest me for selling her property. I was locked up for five days, “he said.
“I want the court to know that I care for my children. I bathe and take them to school every day.
“I bought them text books and exercise books. I also gave my wife their school fees to pay which was in the sum of N9, 000 but she paid N7, 000.
“She sends the children on errand any time of the day not caring about their safety. Again, she once left a deep cut on the forehead of two of our children after they were cut by pieces of glass from the louvers she broke when fighting me.
ALSO READ: She picks the date, dictates the time we make love —Husband
“Our first child demanded for N40, 000 from me as part of the sum for her travel ticket to Saudi Arabia where she planned to work as a housemaid. I turned down her request and insisted she must further her studies. I encouraged her to learn a vocation, hairdressing precisely and paid for her training when she displayed no interest in going back to school. But to my surprise, she abandoned this training for a housemaid job in Lagos, “he concluded.
After listening to both parties, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade observed that their marriage had broken down irrevocably.
Ruling, he dissolved their wedlock and granted custody of their children to the plaintiff.
Odunade ordered the defendant to be responsible for their children’s welfare. He was asked to give their children the sum of N10, 000 monthly for their feeding and be in charge of their education and health care.