A woman, Bukola Akinyode, has told Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, she was ready to call it quits with her husband of 14 years, Azeez Akinyode, because she loved him no more.
Bukola also said in her suit that Azeez was irresponsible and that he drank himself to stupour on regular basis.
According to the plaintiff when the defendant was drunk, he would beat her with the cutlass.
Bukola added that Azeez wrecked her business as a result of his irresponsible acts.
The plaintiff begged the court if her prayer was answered to grant her custody of their third and fourth children and make the defendant responsible for their upkeep.
Azeez, responding to the allegation told the court he was ready for divorce because Bukola was stubborn and derived pleasure in fighting him.
The defendant further explained that the plaintiff was never contented with the feeding allowance he gave her and therefore starved him of sex.
“Azeez wrecked my business and ruined my life, “Bukola said while giving her evidence.
“Azeez was hardly at home and he consistently shirked his responsibility towards me and our children. He passed the bulk of his responsibilities to me.
“My husband gives me and the children N1,000 for food and this is not regular. He wrecked my business because I was left with no other option than to take from my capital to run the home. Azeez would promise to make a refund but he never did.
“My parents came to my aid by giving me a reasonable amount to revive the business but this went down the drain because my husband was never there.
“I again borrowed N300,000 from a cooperative but this also suffered the same fate.
“My lord, Azeez loved to spend his money on alcohol and women. He lavished money on his lovers and friends who hailed him anytime he was walking along the street.
“Azeez would drink, get drunk and return home to beat me.
“He would beat me with a cutlass and throw me out of the house. I had spent the night on our corridor countless of times and on a few occasions in the mosque nearby,” she explained.
“My husband suddenly started accusing me of infidelity. He insisted we had our last child because according to him, no man would give me a second look or date me if I was pregnant or nursing a baby.
“Azeez once deserted me and our children for weeks and moved in with his girlfriend. He stopped picking my calls and later sent a commercial bicycle rider to give us N1,000 for food. When he finally returned, he lied that he was sleeping in his vehicle.
“I constantly reported him to his family members but all they usually said was that I should endure.
“I moved out of Azeez’s house a few weeks ago after we fought and he almost killed me. Immediately I left, my husband brought in another woman who was already carrying his pregnancy which is a proof that he had all this while been unfaithful to me.
“My lord, my mind is made up on divorce. I want this court to separate us and grant me custody of our third and fourth children while our first and second children should be under his care.
“I also appeal to the court to make him responsible for the upkeep of the children with me,” she stated.
Giving his evidence Azeez said: “My lord, I didn’t desert our home as Bukola stated. I always leave home very early in the morning because of the nature of my job but I never felt good returning home because my wife was always giving me problem.
“I gave her our children’s school fees to pay and I never for once defaulted in the payment but she would always accuse me of owing her. She made me pay endlessly for the money I never borrowed from her.
“Bukola was always looking for an opportunity to fight me. She refused that I had rest. She would accuse me of infidelity and turn the whole house upside down. She sometimes threatened me with knife.
“My wife was never contended with the money I gave her for food. I always gave her N1,000 but she never stopped complaining. Bukola constantly denied me sex because of this,” he stated.
The defendant added that, “my wife is stubborn, arrogant and loved to have her way.
“I warned her to stop attending to her customers after 9:00 pm because we were once robbed by armed robbers, but she was defiant. She flouted my order and attended to one of them on a certain night and we fought. I instructed her to close the shop and come in but she snubbed me. I beat the hell out of her because she humiliated me before her male customer.
“I refused that she slept in our room that night but her siblings pleaded with me which made me rescind on my decision.
“Any time my wife and I had an argument, she would call her parents on phone and they would come to take her and our kids away from home.
“My lord, I built a shop for Bukola where she sold her wares but she insisted I didn’t take care of her.
“I don’t owe her any money except N35,000, levy she paid on my behalf for the purchase of a new transformer for our area,” Azeez explained.
Giving his judgment, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade, observed that there was no more love between them.
Ruling, he dissolved their wedlock and put their first and second children in the defendant’s care and handed over their last two children to the plaintiff.
The defendant was asked to give the plaintiff N10,000 every month as feeding allowance for the two children with her.
He was also mandated to be responsible for their education and health care.
Both were advised to maintain peace.