‘He leaves no feeding allowance, but empties the pot, drinks himself to stupour’

Ile Tuntun Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State has adjourned till March 11, the divorce suit brought before it by a woman, Suliat Makinde against her husband, Ramoni Makinde.

Suliat in her suit sought for the annulment of her nine-year-old marriage to her husband on the grounds that he was a brute, undependable and a liar.

The plaintiff appealed to the court, if her prayer was answered, to grant her custody of their two children who he had neglected for years so that she could give them proper attention.

“My lord, I pray this honourable court to relief me of the cross I have been carrying for years with this my husband.

“My husband is the most undependable person I have ever met. He has never been there for me and our children. He gives us no attention or care.

“I can’t remember when last he gave us feeding allowance but he expects to meet food on the table. I have been feeding him and our children for almost nine years and he feels comfortable with it. Since he has no shame, he complains frequently that the portion I serve him is small and will always empty the pot into his plate not caring if I ate or not or if our children are satisfied with the portion I serve them.

I was raped by a superior officer ― US Senator

“His ears are constantly deaf to the pleadings of our children as he never met their needs especially that of education.

“He has always refused to pay our children’s school fees because his complaint has always been that of lack of fund. He lies that he doesn’t have money, but will go to the bar and drink himself to stupour. He’s never satisfied with a bottle; he will drink until he’s drunk and will stagger home.

“I reported him to his parents and they spoke with him but he refused to change.

“My lord, I lent him money from my capital but he has refused to pay me back. I pray the court to mandate him to make a refund.

“Most importantly, I appeal to this honourable court to grant me custody of our two children, “she stated.

The defendant refused to admit to divorce.

“My lord, I don’t agree to divorce because I don’t want her to disrupt our children’s education. If the court grants her custody of our children, there is no guaranty that she will enroll them in school because she’s not keen about their education.

“My wife finds it difficult to endure and opens herself to her mum’s ill-advice. Any time we have misunderstanding, she will leave for her parent’s house and they will always blame me for our differences.

“Her mum advised her to seek divorce because I stopped her from selling her wares. I took this step because she was in the habit of displaying them at the roadside which is dangerous, “he concluded.

After listening to both parties, the court president, Chief Olasunkanmi Agbaje stated that more evidence was needed. He, therefore, adjourned the case till March 12, and ordered both couple to come on the adjourned date with their children and parents.