Grade A Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has adjourned judgment in the divorce suit brought before it by a man, Rashidi, against his wife, wife, Jemila, whom he claimed was irresponsible, hostile, defiant and never ceased to fight him.
Rashidi stated that Jemila further extended her unfriendly nature towards his parents.
The plaintiff explained that the defendant once went to church against his will and returned with a pack of salt, which she sprinkled around their house.
He added that she set on fire his mother’s clothes, which she left behind after helping to take care of their newborn baby.
The plaintiff stated that the defendant did the worst when he grabbed his scrotums during a fight and pulled and refused to let go.
This, he said, landed him in the hospital where he was on admission for weeks.
Rashidi told the court he was no longer interested in his marriage to his wife and thus prayed for divorce.
Rashidi also entreated the court for their children’s custody.
Jemila agreed to divorce but refused that her husband have custody of their children.
She pleaded with the court to mandate her husband to be responsible for their children’s upkeep, giving feeding, education, and health care priority.
She stated that she was tired of her husband’s maltreatment of her.
The defendant said that the plaintiff, on many occasions, would beat her and throw her belongings out of their apartment.
According to her, she had had to sleep in their corridor for many nights until their family members and neighbours begged on her behalf.
Jemila added that Rashidi ignored her welfare and that of their children.
She stated that her husband gave her and their two children a meager amount of N2,000 per week as feeding allowance with a congo of rice in addition.
She added that she was forced to take up a menial job to augment the stipend he gave them.
The defendant denied having a strained relationship with the plaintiff’s parents.
According to her, she and his mother are friends.
Rashidi, in his evidence, said, “I met my wife in 2010, and we got married in 2011, which makes it 14 years since we got married.
“I met her through her brother, who was my friend.
“He convinced his parents to give their daughter’s hand in marriage to me.
“My wife was 20 years old when we got married. She was just through with her secondary school education.
“Her parents requested that I trained her further in school, but she did not.
“She had vocational training instead.
“I discovered after we got married that my wife lacked training.
“She lacked the ability to run the home smoothly, which made us always to be at loggerhead.
“The more I called her attention to her deficiency, the worse she became.
“My wife hates to be corrected, while she also has a caustic tongue.
“She not only abuses me but ensures every argument ends in a brawl.
“People come to our house on a regular basis to mediate in our differences.
“Jemila loves to flout my orders.
“She once went to a church without my consent and returned with packs of salt, which she sprinkled around our house.
“I went mad at such a sight, but my wife, rather than pacify me, said I should do my worst.
“She has the least respect for my parents.
“Jemila had the gut to burn into ashes my mother’s clothes, which she left behind after helping us in taking care of our first baby.
“At another time, she threw stones on the roof of our house, thus denying my father, who was just discharged from the hospital a sound sleep.
“My wife displayed a high level of inhumanity when she grabbed my scrotums during a fight and pulled, and refused to let go until I almost fainted.
“I landed in the hospital and was on admission for weeks.
“My lord, my wife will kill me if we continue to live together.
“I want her out of my house and life.
“I plead that the court grants me custody of our children because my wife is morally inadequate to raise them.”
Jemila responded, “My lord, I agree that our marriage be dissolved, but I entreat this honourable court to grant me custody of our children.
“I also plead that my husband be made responsible for their upkeep, giving attention to their feeding, education, and health care, among others.
“I met my husband through my brother.
“Our father, in particular, was against our relationship, but his employer and some clerics prevailed on him.
“We had Nikkah, and I moved in with him.
“He promised me heaven and earth if only I could get pregnant for him, and I did.
“But his mother, to my chagrin, challenged me.
“She asked how I managed to get pregnant for her son because no other woman ever did.
“My loving and caring husband suddenly changed towards me after this.
“He no longer saw anything good in all that I did.
“He always said the greatest mistake he ever made in life was that of marrying me.
“He took to beating me and would always lie to those who mediated in our differences that I was irresponsible, dirty, and untidy.
“My husband was in the habit of throwing me out, and I always ended up sleeping on the corridor for days.
“He constantly shirked his responsibility towards me and our children.
“He gave us a paltry sum of N2,000 as feeding allowance per week, with a congo of rice in addition.
“I took up a job as a maid in the canteen to augment the stipend he gave after I complained, but he refused to see reason with me.
“My lord, I have a cordial relationship with my mother-in-law. I did not burn her clothes.
“Rather, I wash her clothes and prepare her pounded yam any time she is around.
“I held, pulled, and refused to release my husband’s scrotums after he beat and almost killed me during a fight.
The court president, Mrs S.M. Akintayo, after she had heard both parties adjourned the case for judgment.
