Ile Tuntun Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has again adjourned the divorce suit brought before it by a woman, Sakirat Animashaun against her husband, Jubril Animashaun after its second hearing.
Sakirat had earlier approached the court, alleging that her husband was irresponsible and had jettisoned his responsibility as head of the home and breadwinner.
“My lord, I’m tired of my husband’s lackadaisical attitude to life. He’s not just bothered about anything.
“He has failed to care for me and our children. He gives us N300 as feeding allowance for two weeks.
“He’s also not interested in the children’s education. I pay our children’s school fees, buy their text books and school uniforms, she told the court.
“He has also shed his responsibility of paying the house rent. I struggle to pay the rent every year so that our property won’t be thrown out by the landlord.
“Despite the roles I play in the home, he still beats me. Any time I complain about his irresponsible acts, he descends on me with heavy blows.
“There was no time we fought that he would not leave me with a wound to nurse.
“I have reported him to his relatives on several occasions and they did chastise and counsel him, but he has failed to change.
“Despite his uncaring attitude, I still maintain a virtuous lifestyle. He has never caught me with any man or have any cause to suspect me, the plaintiff added.
“He’s fond of sending our 10-year-old son to buy him dry gin and cigarette which I always objected to because I don’t want him to be exposed to such a lifestyle.
“The last time we fought, he broke my arm and I was incapacitated for months.
“I have had enough of my husband’s maltreatment, I don’t want to be married to him any more, “she concluded.
Jubrin, a member of the Oyo State National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), denied all his wife had said and also rejected her plea for divorce.
“I have always provided for the home. Despite the fact that I am a man, I still go to the market and buy ingredients for soup and stew. I can boldly say it before the court that the soup presently in the pot at home was provided by me, the defendant said.
“It’s true that we fight, but she failed to tell the court that she harms me with broken bottles and knives when we fight. This is the scar of the wound she left on me on one of such occasions (pointing to a scar on his arm).
“She loves to dress indecently which I’m not comfortable with. I have warned her several times on it, but she has failed to change.
“As an NURTW member, I was arrested with others due to a problem under the leadership of Tokyo and served a seven-year jail term. She was then pregnant. She had our baby and later moved in with another man whom she had another child for. She came back to me when I was through with my jail term.
“My lord, if she leaves me our children will suffer, “he stated.
The court president, after listening to the duo expressed that more evidence would be needed. He, therefore, adjourned the case till February 17 and ordered that the duo come to court with their parents or relatives.
Both parties were absent in court on February 17 and the case was thus adjourned till February 24.
The duo showed up in court on February 24, but none came with either his or her parents or relatives.
The court president asked the plaintiff if she was still resolute on her request for divorce and she stated that their family members were already mediating in the issue.
He, therefore, adjourned the case till March 10 and ordered both the plaintiff and defendant to come to court with their children, parents or relatives.