He gave our two-year-old child alcoholic drink, refused to bury our last child who died two
first child“We lost our first child as a result of his uncaring attitude. Not sober, he went ahead and introduced our second child, a two-year-old to alcoholic drink and gave her a sachet of Dry Gin every day. My lord, most traumatic is the fact that our last child, a three-month-old has been lying cold in the mortuary for more than two months after dying during a sickness and this again as a result of his nonchalant attitude.”
“She’s stubborn and loves to have her way always. She never took me along when she took the child to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan for treatment. I’ve refused to claim the said corpse for burial because the dead child is not mine. I have told her to bring my child home and alive.”
A woman, Folake Ojo has dragged her husband, Samson Ojo to Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, seeking that it dissolves their eight-year-old marriage.
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Folake in her divorce suit accused her husband of lack of care and neglect of her and their children. She added that she is going through trauma due to his indifference to her plight after the loss of their last child.
The plaintiff further prayed the court to grant her custody of their second child who was in his mother’s care.
“My lord, my husband has failed to carry out his duties towards me and our children since we got married. He has never been interested in how we survive on daily basis.
“We lost our first child as a result of his uncaring attitude. He failed to take care of me and provide the necessary things for the baby during pregnancy and after delivery.
“His mother moved in with us after we lost our first child and rather than move into the visitor’s room, she moved in with me in my room and shared my bed with me. I felt quite uncomfortable with this arrangement and explained to my husband but he waved it off.
“My mother-in-law’s presence affected the relationship between my husband and me, because she was always dictating to us how to run our home while I was the one feeding the whole house and meeting other needs. Any time I complain, my husband beats me to a pulp.
“Again, since she’s sharing the same room with me, making love with my husband in my room became impossible. I, therefore, had to go to his room any time we were to have s3x. She was therefore aware any time we were making love.
“My brother-in-law often comes visiting. On some occasions, he will bring his sick wife along and leave her in my care when he’s leaving. At such instances, I bear the expenses of her medical care and go through a lot of stress taking care of her.
“My husband also brought home a dog but failed to make any arrangement in regards to its feeding and welfare. This responsibility also fell on me. This dog once bit my leg and left a deep wound which took some time to heal, “she said.
She went on, “My lord, I was stunned the first time I saw my husband gave our second child dry gin to drink. I complained but he shut me up. He gradually made it a habit and was giving her a sachet of this drink on a daily basis.
“My mother-in-law when going back home, forcefully took the child from me and left with her. She was then a year and some few months old. Our daughter has since been in her custody. Every attempt at having my child back has failed. I once went to her place to retrieve my child from her but she raised the alarm calling me a kidnapper. I was almost lynched.
“My lord, again, we lost our third child due to my husband’s irresponsible and care free attitude. He was away from home for weeks and never bothered to ask after me and our baby who was three months old. The baby suddenly took ill and I informed him. He told me to take him to a dispensary in the neighbourhood because he was not ready to pay a dime on his medical care.
“I rushed him to UCH when I noticed his health was deteriorating. There, it was discovered that his blood level was very low. He died before he could be attended to properly.
“I informed him immediately this happened, but he became irate on phone and shouted he wanted his child home and alive. He never bothered to check our child’s corpse at the mortuary since he died on August 5, “she added.
“My husband is indebted to my sister to the tune of N50, 000. He borrowed N80, 000 from her for our late child’s naming ceremony and paid back only N30, 000. He also borrowed another N30, 000 from my mum and he’s yet to pay back.
“I appeal to the court to grant me custody of our only surviving child and also enforce it that he pays back his debts.
“My lord, I further pray the court to instruct him to allow me pack my belongings from his house. These include a gas cooker, Starcoms decoder and a set of chairs among others, “Foluke stated.
Samson admitted to claim but insisted the custody of their daughter remains his.
“My wife is stubborn and loves to have her way in the home always. We lost our last child due to her stubbornness.
“My lord, I refused to check the corpse at UCH mortuary or have the baby buried because she never discussed with me or informed me she was taking the child to UCH. I was angry she had the guts to tell me our baby is dead.
“It’s true she and my mum shared the same bed, but she lied that I was irresponsible. There was never a time I gave our child alcoholic drink. I likewise never abandoned my duties at home. I took care of her and our children to the best of my ability and provided her money to run the home. I was constantly buying rice for home consumption.
“Again, immediately I learnt about the dog bite, I took her to the hospital where she was given anti tetanus injection.
My lord, she also lied that I beat her, “the defendant told the court.
After he had listened to the evidence of both parties, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade dissolved their marriage and gave custody of their two-year-old daughter to the plaintiff.
He ordered the defendant to bring the child to court after sitting and hand her over to the plaintiff.
He also mandated the defendant to pay the sum of N5, 000 monthly for her upkeep.
Odunade further directed the defendant to write an undertaking promising to bury the remains of their three-month-old baby without delay and also instructed him to allow the plaintiff remove all her belongings from his house.