‘He deserted me, our kids for 4 yrs’

“My lord, I have endured enough for these 13 years  I have been married to my husband. He has refused to be committed to my upkeep and that of our children and is always beating me.”

Idayat Wasiu had sued for the divorce of her husband, Tajudeen Wasiu at Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Idayat in her suit accused her husband of not being responsible and caring. She added that he was in the habit of beating her.

She, therefore, pleaded with the court to separate them and grant her custody of their three children.

“My husband doesn’t see it as his responsibility to take care of me and our children. I have been acting his role since we got married 13 years ago because he has proved to be irresponsible. I labour from dawn to dusk to ensure there’s food in the home while I have also been responsible for our children’s education.

“He doesn’t have any plan for our children and he cares less about their future. I have tried to let him understand we will be inculcating the right value in our children by sending them to school but he’s not just interested in doing so.

“He deals with me terribly anytime I fail to provide food at home. He will beat me and almost snuff life out of me. He won’t leave me until he sees blood flowing from the wounds he has inflicted on me, “she said.

“My lord, he abandoned me and our children for four years. His father on three different occasions gave us N500 and two cups of rice.  We later moved in with them when our landlord threatened to throw us out for not paying our accumulated house rent.

“My father gave me and our children N1, 000 on a regular basis and met some other needs,” she stated.

Tajudeen acceded to claim.

“My lord, I can’t leave our children in my wife’s custody because he doesn’t have time for them. She goes out early and comes home late.

“She left me and our kids and went to Lagos for months.  I was the one taking care of our children.  She never bothered to call us or ask how the children were faring.

“My lord, when she finally came back, she was three months pregnant. I knew the pregnancy wasn’t mine and I told her so.  I decided not to sleep with her throughout this period.

“Her parents felt highly embarrassed and after an amicable settlement of the matter, aborted the pregnancy for her.

“I have been responsible for our children’s school fees while my parents took good care of them when I  was not around.

“My lord,   I also agree to divorce because she’s married to another person, “he told the court.

After he had listened to both parties, the court president, Chief Ademola  Odunade observed that their marriage had broken down irrevocably.

Ruling, he dissolved their union and granted custody of their three children to the plaintiff.

The defendant was mandated to pay the sum of N10, 000 monthly as their children’s feeding allowance. He further instructed him to be responsible for their education, health service and general welfare.