I Ceased To Recognise Him As My Husband One Year After Our Marriage —Wife
A man, Wole Oyetunji, has approached Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo, seeking that it dissolve his 16-year-old marriage to his wife, Toyin Oyetunji.
Wole had sought for divorce on the accounts of lack of understanding, distrust and frequent misunderstanding between him and his wife.
The plaintiff entreated the court, if his prayer was answered, to grant him custody of their only child.
Toyin acceded to divorce.
She told the court she no more recognised Wole as her husband because according to her, they had been living separately for the past 15 years.
The defendant explained that their marriage lasted for only one year.
Stating his reasons for deciding on divorce, Wole told the court that: “My marriage to Toyin wasn’t successful mainly because we differ in the ways we reason.
“We always found it difficult to reach a compromise and this drew us apart.
“Again, our relationship was fraught with distrust which led to one party always suspecting the other.
“We fought frequently as a result of this which led to a strain in our relationship.
“My lord, I pray for divorce because Toyin and I have obviously failed to live in peace and harmony.
“I also appeal to the court to grant me custody of our child so that I can raise him properly,” Wole begged.
“I’m surprised that Wole had the effrontery to drag me to court after being unfair to me.
“He was unfair to me but I have left everything to God to judge.
“I no longer recognise him as my husband,” she stated.
“My lord, it is true Wole and I got married 16 years ago but our union lasted just one year.
“I discovered a few months into our marriage that he stopped coming home regularly.
“He always gave flimsy excuses but I felt very much uncomfortable with his ways.
“I became more suspicious of his movements, and one day, I summoned courage and demanded to know what was going on.
“It was then he told me that his parents were insisting that he went back to the lady he once courted who is from his home town.
“He confessed that he had contracted another marriage with her which explained his absence from home on many occasions.
“In order that I didn’t feel bad, he stated that his plan was to run both homes without being partial.
“I initially agreed to his plan but later felt uncomfortable in such relationship. I made up my mind I was going to live the remaining of my life without him.
“The next he came home, I told him I was walking out of our marriage and explained to him in details my reasons for this.
“We parted ways after this and I have been solely responsible for the upkeep of our child since then.
“Since my desire is that our son has sound education, I starve and deny myself of many good things to make this to be.
“I borrow money from the bank to see to his education in particular.
“I paid N30,000 for his secondary school leaving certificate examination and asked Wole for a refund. He refused to send it and complained that the fixed amount was N17, 000 and not N30, 000.
“He later called to inform me he was coming for our son and I told him he was joking.
“He again arranged to put him in the custody of one of his friends and I objected to it.
“My lord, I agree to divorce because there is no longer any intimacy between Wole and I.
“But I earnestly pray the court to rule that our son be in my care.
“But perchance, Wole is awarded our son’s custody, I then appeal to this honourable court to make him make a refund of the whole amount I have spent taking care of him since we parted ways.
“I spend N2,800 on him every day. Aside this, he has just gained an admission into the university and I have spent some amount on this. He should be ready to pay me this also,” the defendant declared.
Giving his judgment, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade stated that it was obvious that their relationship had broken down irretrievably.
Ruling, he dissolved their union and granted the defendant custody of their child.
The plaintiff was ordered to pay the defendant N10,000 every month as their child’s feeding allowance and be responsible for his education and health care.