A 50-year-old machine operator, Franklin Temitayo, has approached an Agege Customary Court in Lagos State seeking the dissolution of what he calls “14-year loveless marriage.”
Franklin, who hails from Ondo town in Ondo State, told the court on Wednesday that there was no more love between him and his wife, Titilayo, whom he described as “an arrogant and insatiable woman.”
The father of three said: “My wife is disrespectful and troublesome; she no longer loves and cares for me as her husband.’’
He told the court that his wife had made his home a living hell for him, alleging that she never gave him peace whenever he returned from work.
“Despite all my efforts to provide and care for the home, she is never appreciative and considerate, as she keeps demanding for more.
“Whenever I give my wife feeding allowance, she diverts the money to her personal use and demands for more money.
“There was a time she held onto my shirt and stopped me from going to work, demanding money from me.
“I try my best to cater for my family to the best of my ability, but my wife is never satisfied, all she cares about is money,” he said.
The petitioner told the court that he was no longer interested in a union with “an abusive, troublesome and rude woman.”
“I moved out of the house out of frustration; I could no longer bear her excesses.
“There was a time I had a dream that we fought and she died in the process.
“I want the court to, therefore, separate us; as I do not want a murder case to hang on my neck. I just want to live comfortably and in peace,” he said.
Titilayo, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, but lives at Iloro area of Agege in Lagos State, however, denied all the allegations levelled against her.
She called her husband “a liar and an irresponsible man.”
“Whenever he was paid salary; he would avoid coming home for days. After I had reported him at his work place, he got angry and stopped working.
“My husband is irresponsible and not caring; he neither gives us feeding allowance nor knows how I pay the children’s school fees.
“My husband abandoned the children and I for four years without looking back, until this year when my mother died.
“He came to visit the children and on that pretext, he took them away.
“He would flare up whenever I asked for money; and over time, this became worrisome and annoying as the burden of feeding the house, paying house rent and school fees became unbearable for me,” she said.
The 34-year-old saleswoman, however, told the court that she would not want her marriage dissolved because of the children.
“I do not want to end the marriage because of the love I have for my children. I do not want them to grow up in separated home,” she said.
She, therefore, urged the court to help her resolve the issues between her and her husband.
The court’s president, Mrs. Patricia Adeyanju, advised the estranged couple to keep the peace and adjourned the case until January 21 for an alternative dispute resolution.
(NAN)