‘My husband got so drunk, he climbed and slept on rooftop’

A woman, Bashirat Rauf, has dragged her husband, Saheed Rauf before Ile Tuntun Cuistomary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, seeking the dissolution of their fifteen-year-old marriage over alleged battery.

Bashirat added that her husband was troublesome, irresponsible, uncaring and is a drunk.

“Although my husband reiterates that he’s the head of the home, but he’s nothing but a figure head.

“I can’t remember when last he gave me and our children money for food, but he feels comfortable eating whatever food I use my hard earned money to prepare, she said.

“I am solely responsible for our children’s education. We have two of the four children in private primary and secondary schools. He doesn’t know how much they are paying as school fees not to mention paying the fees.

“He took our eldest child to an alfa to reside with him and learn Arabic which didn’t go down well with me. This child still comes to my shop to collect money for food.

“It has now become a regular practice to spend the proceeds from my business on servicing debts incurred by my husband on his job. He’s a welder and any time he is given a job to do, he abandons it and spends the money. His customers always come to me with different kinds of complaints and demand for a refund of their money from me.

“I have now become a laughing stock in our compound and neighbourhood because of my husband’s irresponsible act.

“He accuses me of infidelity, but he chases after my customers and friends and even the young girls in the neighbourhood. I have received many reports of his escapades which are quite shameful.

“Whenever I complain, he beats me up. There were times I had to run away from home and seek refuge in the homes of relatives and friends when the beatings become unbearable, she added.

“Although he complains he doesn’t have money to cater for the home, but he has money for drinks.

“He is a drunk. What makes him happy aside womanising is drinking. Often times, his drinking habit has ended him in trouble and has caused me much embarrassment.

“We have been given quit notice in two different houses we have lived because of his drinking habit.

“There was a time he drank so much that he lost his bearing. He went for a ladder, climbed the rooftop and slept there.

“A call came in around 12:00 pm asking me to come home while I was in church for vigil. It was actually our landlord who called.

“He told me my husband got drunk, climbed and slept on the roof of the house.

“I packed my things and rushed home since my church wasn’t far from home.

“We couldn’t bring him down that night because it was late and no one was ready to take the risk.

“We brought him down the next morning through the help of a carpenter.

“My lord, my husband was oblivious of all that was happening. He was sleeping all through the time the carpenter was pulling off some roofing sheets and wood to bring him down because he was heavenly drunk. He was still sleeping even hours after he was brought down.

“I felt like being swallowed up by the ground as people gathered and were yelling and mocking us. I reported him to my mother and mother in-law but he refused to change, the plaintiff told the court.

”The last of his atrocities was his attempt at breaking into my shop to steal money.

“Since he’s aware that I keep money in the shop, he planned to break into my shop through the toilet behind it. As a welder he was able to cut a part of the burglary proof on the window of my shop but his head and the upper part of his body got stuck as he made an attempt to crawl in.  This left him with deep cuts at the back of his head and parts of his body.

“My lord, I have faced enough ridicule and shame these past 15 years. I now walk with my head bowed. Please, separate us and give me custody of our four children.

Saheed disagreed on his wife’s plea for a divorce and custody of their children.

“I don’t agree to my wife leaving me, “he told the court.

Giving his reasons he stated that, “My wife is tolerant and prayerful.

“She’s also very religious and has taken me to church several times for prayers so that I could change. There were revelations and prophesies during such prayers that we must not separate or divorce, Saheed stated.

“It is true that I beat her, but I do this when I’m drunk. I promise the court never to beat her again.”

The court president, Chief Agbaje Olasunkanmi, after listening to the duo, stated that more facts would be needed on the case. He, therefore, adjourned the case till March 10 and ordered the couple to come with their parents.