An Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Tuesday dissolved a three-year-old marriage between Morufu Ajao and his wife, Abosede, over threat to life and frequent beating of the man’s mother.
Delivering his judgement, president of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, said that he was “convinced that the couple could no longer live together’’.
Omilola said that despite several attempts to reconcile the couple, the petitioner insisted on divorce.
“The court has no choice than to dissolve the union, in spite of the fact that the wife still claims she loves her husband. The petitioner insists on getting a divorce.
“Both parties are no longer husband and wife, as the marriage has broken down totally, they are free to go their separate ways,’’ Omilola ruled.
Morufu, 33, an herbal practitioner, filed a suit to end his marriage over his wife’s frequent beating of his mother and threat to life.
“My wife beat up my mother and tore her clothes to rags; she’s always cursing and abusing her, calling her a witch and telling people that my mother always ‘fly’ in the night,’’ he said.
The petitioner also said that he gave his wife money to terminate her second pregnancy because he doubted the paternity of the unborn baby.
“I gave my wife money to abort her pregnancy because she used to leave home without my consent to unknown destinations and would come back after 21 days or 30 days.
“She may even tell me she was going to her parent’s place, but, after some days, I will call her parents, they will tell me they did not see her.
“So, when she came back home and told me that she was pregnant, I doubted it.
“I gave her N7, 000 to terminate it. She collected the money, lied to me that she had done it, but never did it,’’ Morufu said.
He described his wife as a violent and aggressive woman.
“My wife is a violent woman, she used to hit me any time we had a misunderstanding, and that always prompted me to beat her up,’’ Morufu said.
He equally told the court that his wife was fetish.
“On three occasions, I came back from work and saw salt sprinkled all over the house,’’ the petitioner said.
Abosede, however, denied all the allegations.
She said that the misunderstanding between her and her husband was due to her refusal to terminate her second pregnancy.
“My husband gave me money to abort my baby; I collected the money but used it for another thing.
“When he later discovered that I did not carry out the abortion, he started beating me and moved my belongings into the kitchen.
“He later left the house to an unknown destination. It was my neighbours that gave me money to feed till I gave birth to my baby,’’ Abosede said.
The 30-year-old mother of two also denied either beating or tearing her mother-in-law’s clothes.
She pleaded with the court not to grant her husband’s request for the dissolution of their marriage.
“I am still in love with him,’’ Abosede said.
