Oja Oba/ Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has ended the 14-year-old marriage between a couple, Kafayat Abdulsalam and her husband, Afeez Abdusalam.
Kafayat in her suit accused her husband of irresponsibility and assault. She added that he was in the habit of destroying her property.
The plaintiff therefore prayed the court to halt their relationship and put their children whom he had abandoned for years in her custody.
Afeez gave his consent to divorce but appealed to the court not to grant his wife’s prayer on their children’s custody.
Ruling after he had heard both parties, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade declared their wedlock annulled.
Odunade granted custody of the three children in the marriage to the plaintiff and asked the defendant to be responsible for their welfare.
According to the court president, Afeez was to pay N15,000 per month as their children’s feeding allowance. He was also mandated to be responsible for their education and health care.
Kafayat said: “My lord, my marriage to Afeez has been hellish. He’s always on my neck and has ceased to give me rest of mind.
“He carries no responsibility in the house. He made the responsibility of feeding and clothing our children my duty while he has never been interested in their education. I was the one who enrolled our children in school and have been paying their fees.
“He was always complaining about my nursing profession. He has the belief that nurses are promiscuous and therefore demanded that I changed my job. This brought a strain in our relationship. To save my marriage, I succumbed to his will.
“I later trained as a chemist and started selling drugs. My lord, he started complaining again that I was returning home late. I did my best to make him understand that this business is more lucrative in the evenings but he refused to see reason with me.
“My lord, it was difficult abandoning this business since I feed the whole family from it.
“He took to fighting me at every given opportunity and would hurt me. Afeez would beat me blue black and leave me with blood-shot eyes and a swollen face. I spend meaningful amount receiving treatment at the hospital.
“My lord, not yet satisfied, he went ahead to destroy all my clothes. He emptied my wardrobe, poured petrol on my clothes and set them ablaze. I wept profusely when I rushed to the scene. I couldn’t save even as little as a handkerchief from the fire. All got burnt.
“My lord, it is obvious that Azeez will not relent until he totally ruins me. I won’t wait till he does that. I, therefore, appeal to this honourable court that you separate us before he has his way.
“My lord, I also earnestly pray that the court grant me custody of our children who he has abandoned and cares less about,” Kafayat pleaded.
But the husband had a different story: “My lord, I should be the one dragging Kafayat to court. She has dealt with me treacherously since we got married. She’s a harlot,” Azeez told the court.
“Kafayat comes back from her shop late. I have complained about this but she refused to change.
“My wife has no regard for me and places no value on our marriage.
“My lord, Kafayat sometimes sleeps outside the home. She will spend the night with her lover and return the following morning giving a flimsy excuse.
“She misbehaves and addresses me rudely because she’s more financially enhanced than I am. She shouts on me when we have misunderstanding and goes as far as holding and roughening my clothes. She has turned almost all my clothes into rags.
“She lied that I burnt her clothes. What I burnt were rags.
“My lord, I pray that the court hand over our children to me. Kafayat is wayward and has no time for them. She will also be a bad example to them,” he concluded.