“The day he was served a court summon, he came to my place and carried away my bed, mattress and pillow in addition to the N10, 000 my friends kept with me.”
“He’s irresponsible and shameless. I fed him and our six children from the stipend I made carrying loads for people in the market. All he knew to do for the twenty one years we were married was to get drunk and beat me.
There were times he beat me till I fainted. I walked out of our marriage when I couldn’t stand his maltreatment any more.
“My lord, I’m surprised she has the guts to come to court after getting married to another man without being separated from me. She was pompous and always insisting on having her way while under my roof. She also set our children against me. S
Since I‘ve sworn to an oath before the court that I would not lie, I hereby state that I only beat her thrice throughout the period she was with me. On these three occasions, I left her with swollen face.”
These were part of the evidence given by a couple, Yetunde Babalola and Waidi Babalola at the Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Yetunde had approached the court seeking that her twenty-one year old marriage to her husband be dissolved.
According to the plaintiff, the defendant’s day was made when he drank himself to stupor.
“My husband’s only concern throughout the time we were living together was how to get money to buy himself alcohol. He would stagger home every night after getting drunk and pounce on me, beating me blue-black. There were times he beat me till I fainted and this apart from having swollen face.
“He has never been interested in my welfare and that of our children. I worked as a load carrier to feed the children. I also fed him out of every meal I prepared. He would eat and ask for more because he’s shameless.
“My lord, he never contributed towards our children’s education and doesn’t know which schools they are attending or the classes they are till date. I moved out of his house when it was glaring he would soon kill me.
“I decided to drag him to court so that he would be made responsible for our children’s upkeep and general welfare. The day he was served the court summon, he came to where I was living, forced his way into my apartment and carried away my bed, mattress and pillow. He also stole the N10, 000 my friends kept with me.
“My lord, I was surprised when I was served a court summon because I should be the one dragging her before this court. She left my house and got married to another man without being separated from me.
“She was pompous, bossy and always wanting to have her way which I strongly stood against.
“I was the one paying our children’s school fees but I encouraged them to learn a vocation each when their performance in school was not encouraging. She discouraged them from doing this.
“She fought me for chastising one of our female children who was dating different boys in our neighbourhood. She was eventually impregnated by one of these boys which led to her education being terminated.
“Our children still come to me for money almost every day and I give them nothing less than N500.
Giving his judgment after listening to the duo, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade dissolved their marriage and ordered the defendant to return the bed, mattress and pillow he carried away.
According to him, those items (the bed, mattress and pillow) were meant for their children’s use.
He further mandated him to pay, on a monthly basis, the sum of N15, 000 through the court as allowance for their children’s feeding and be in charge of their education and other demands.