· No, she’s the one that beats me all the time —Husband
A Lagos food vendor’s 10-year-old marriage has finally hit the rocks following failed attempts by the court to reconcile the couple.
An Alimosho customary court sitting in Lagos State has pronounced the loveless union between Bridget and her estranged husband, David Moses dissolved over the wife’s allegation of threats to her life by her husband.
Delivering her judgement, the court’s president, Alhaja S.O. Mumuni, said it appeared that the estranged couple was tired of the marriage and all efforts to reconcile them had failed.
“Since both parties consented to the dissolution of their marriage, this court has no choice but to dissolve it.
“The marriage between Mrs Bridget Moses and David Moses is hereby dissolved from today in accordance with the Lagos State Customary Law, 2013.
“Both parties are no longer husband and wife; they are free to go their separate ways without any hindrance or molestation.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Bridget, 39, had approached the court to end her 10-year-old marriage over persistent threats to her life.
“My husband always strangled me whenever he was fighting me, there was a day he hanged me by the neck.
“I was dangling but for the quick intervention of our neighbours who rushed to our room to rescue me.
“I was unconscious for about 20 minutes, my husband is a very violent man, he beat me up at the slightest provocation,” she told the court.
The petitioner also described her husband as an irresponsible husband and father.
She added: “My husband is not responsible, he does not care for me and the children, and he does not care whether the children go to school or eat.
“He also owed our landlord three years’ rent and the landlord threw out our property at about 9.00 p.m.
“I called my husband to inform him, but when he came, he packed his belongings and left us there, laughing and mocking us.
“He told me that he had the money to pay the rent, but he would not pay because he wanted us to suffer.”
The mother of four told the court that it was her church that rented another apartment for her and the children.
However, Moses, 47, a labourer, who did not object to the dissolution of the marriage, denied all the wife’s allegations.
According to him, it was his wife that always beat him.
“My wife beat me regularly, all the scars on my body are as a result of her constant battering.’’
He said his wife had already packed out of the house with the children to an unknown destination before the landlord’s eviction.
“She had moved out her things and left my house,” he said.