A 65-year-old Islamic cleric, Mr Ibrahim Yusuf, on Thursday urged an Alimosho Customary Court in Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos State, to dissolve his 27-year-old marriage to his fourth wife, Bolanle, for alleged battery of his new wife.
Yusuf told the court that Bolanle, with whom he had two children, had turned his new wife into a punching bag.
“Bolanle did not allow my new wife to have peace in the house as she was always fighting and beating her at will,’’ he said.
The petitioner described Bolanle as a troublesome woman that was always fighting him and in the process would tear his clothes to pieces.
“My wife is a good fighter; she fights me regularly and always makes sure that she tears my clothes into rags before leaving me.
“She always embarrasses my new wife and I in public. Bolanle usually harasses and ridicules us.” he said.
The cleric said that he married another wife because his fourth wife had stopped washing his clothes for more than seven years.
“I married another woman because my fourth wife refused to wash my clothes and my other wives cannot wash them because it is the duty of the youngest wife to wash my clothes,’’ he said.
According to him, he stopped eating foods prepared by Bolanle because he was afraid she might poison him.
“My wife always tells me that if she knew that I was going to marry another wife after her, she would have destroyed my life.
“ So due to her statement, I stopped eating her food because I don’t want to die now,’’ he said.
Yusuf asked the court to end the 27-year-old marriage.
The cleric said that he was no longer in love and cannot cope with Bolanle’s behaviour anymore.
Also, Mrs Bolanle Yusuf, 56, a trader, admitted beaten up her husband’s youngest wife.
Bolanle told the court that, “She looked for my trouble. When I came to the house to see my husband in respect of my children’s welfare, his wife started raining curses and abuses on me.
“ So I descended on her because I am not her mate,’’ she said.
The mother of two said that her husband begged her to marry him then.
“He swore with the Holy Quran that he would not marry another woman, he promised me then that I would be his last wife.
“I did not want to marry him because he already had three wives then.
“ But when he begged me and swore with the Quran then that he would not marry another wife, I agreed to marry him but he failed to fulfill his vow,’’ Bolanle said.
The respondent, however, pleaded that the court should not grant her husband’s wish, claiming that she was still in love with her husband.
The court president, Alhaja S.O Mumuni, admonished the couple to maintain peace.
He adjourned the case to January 27, 2016 for further hearing.
