‘He beats, disgraces me before his relatives’

An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court in Ekiti State,  has dissolved the 15-year-old marriage between Mercy Augustine and her husband,  Linus Augustine on grounds of frequent beatings,

unruly behaviour, assault and adultery.

According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),  Mercy, a public servant had filed a divorce  suit, accusing her husband of maltreating, beating, and disgracing her in the presence of his relatives.

She also said that her husband was dating other women.

The mother of three, explained that since she left the house of the respondent on August 31, 2013, he had refused to allow her visit the children in his custody.

She appealed to the court to save the future of her children by dissolving their marriage and awarding  her  their custody for proper care.

The plaintiff prayed the court to dissolve her marriage and restrain her husband’s relatives from threatening her life.

Linus, a public servant, however, refuted all the allegations.

He accused his wife of infidelity as he recalled catching her making love with her male colleague on their matrimonial bed in April 2014.

He said that he queried her over her wrong doing, but she showed no remorse, but rather requested for a transfer to Ado-Ekiti, and left him and the children in Lokoja, where they lived as at May, 2014.

According to him, the wife once called to confess that she slept with three men in Ado-Ekiti, adding that he reported the matter to elders in his hometown.

He agreed to the plaintiff’s plea for divorce and prayed the court to grant him custody of their  three children.

The court president, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, granted the request of both parties by dissolving their  marriage.

She noted that the marriage had broken down irretrievably.

She awarded  custody of the three children to their father and ordered that they be allowed to spend their long vacation holidays with their mother.

The mother was also granted daily access to the children between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. without any restriction.

Akomolede further ordered that during the period of visitation, both parties must maintain peace.