A Lagos housewife, Olawale Bukola, on Tuesday pleaded with an Agege Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve her fourteen-year-old marriage to her husband, citing abandonment, battery and irresponsibility by her husband.
Bukola, mother of three, told the court that her husband, Olawale Oluwaseyi, does not take care of her children and her.
“My husband lies and pretends a lot. When I met him in 2011, he didn’t tell me he has another wife somewhere else, only for a lady to show up few years ago after we got married and I had even had a child for him, claiming that she is his wife.
“He beats me on several occasions and I have even lost count of the number of times he has battered me.”
The claimant also told the court that her husband, who is a policeman, had refused to take responsibility for her welfare and those of their three.
“I had on several occasions reported him to his parents and they could not resolve the matter.
“I sometimes goes to his office to report him, and one of his bosses mandated him to be giving us money on monthly basis instead of the peanuts he is giving us.
“I also reported the issue at the nearest police station in Isheri and also to human rights office but there was not improvement in his behavior towards us.
“Sometimes, he gives us N2,000 for our upkeep throughout the whole month,” she said.
Bukola further told the court that she moved out of her matrimony home when she could no longer cope with the ill- treatment of her husband.
“Since I moved out of the house, he did not bother to cater for our needs despite the fact that he knows I am not working and the sole responsibility of caring for the children lies on me.
“Fending for these children has not been easy but my uncles have been the ones taking care of me and the children for the past two years that I moved out of my matrimonial home.”
The petitioner, who begged the court to dissolve the union between her husband and her, also informed the court that her husband, upon receiving the court summon came to where he was living to fight her but she escaped the attack because she was not at home.
“He does not want to take responsibility, please dissolve our marriage,” Bukola pleaded with the court.
The respondent, however, was absent in court.
The Court’s President, Mrs. I.A. Elabor, in her ruling, urged the couple to maintain peace and avoid any form of violence.
She thereafter adjourned the matter till December 7, 2018.