Court dissolves 13-year-old marriage over irreconcilable differences

An Agege Customary Court in Lagos has dissolved a 13-year-old  marriage between a middle-aged man, Jimoh Falana and his second wife, Funke, for being bad-tempered and troublesome

The president of the court, Mrs Patricia Adeyanju, held that the crisis in the marriage could endanger the life of any of the couple if proactive steps were not taken.

“In the interest of peaceful living, the union between Jimoh and Funke Falana has ceased to be. The custody of the three children produced by the union should be as status quo,” Adeyanju said.

The court also advised the estranged couple to be law-abiding and warned them against blackmailing or threatening each other in any form.

The court had heard from Jimoh, who had prayed for dissolution of the marriage, on the ground that his wife was a quarrelsome and troublesome woman.

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Earlier, the petitioner, who is the branch Chairman of a local militia (Od’ua Peoples Congress) had told the court: “There is no more love in the union as my wife is not caring, and highly adulterous.”

He alleged his wife often fought other wives, especially his fourth wife and heaped abuses on his other children.

Falana alleged that his wife had slept with one of his subordinates, who kept bragging about the act.

“This caused me so much embarrassment among my members, being an OPC leader in my area.

“I called Funke’s attention to this act and told her to come and swear to an oath but she refused. I hate her so much,” he said.

The petitioner, who described the respondent as troublesome and aggressive, alleged that she assaulted him by stabbing him on the stomach with a pair of scissors.

“On a particular occasion, my wife threw a cup at me, tore my clothes in front of my colleagues and stabbed me with a pair of scissors on the stomach because I opened a shop for my fourth wife.”

Falana also claimed that he had not slept with his wife for more than two years since she moved out of his house and urged the court to dissolve the marriage.

“l am tired of the marriage, l want the court to separate us so that l can live a peaceful life,” he pleaded.

The respondent, Funke, a businesswoman and a mother of three, however, denied all allegations levelled against her and objected to the marriage dissolution.

She told the court that her husband was lying, adding “I had sex with him three times in the last month.”

She accused him of neglect, saying he only gives her N1, 000 monthly to cater for herself and the children.

The wife appealed to the court not to dissolve the marriage, insisting “I still love him.”