A 15-year-old illegal marriage between Mrs Modupe Alegbeleye and her husband, Ebenezer, has been dissolved by a customary court, sitting in Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti State, over lack of care for the 50-year-old farmer.
The president of the court, Mrs Yemisi Ojo, who ruled that the estranged couple should go their separate ways, also noted that there was no evidence of any kind of marriage between them.
“The court has heard the evidence of both parties and discovered that there is no existence of customary marriage or any kind of marriage between them such as to warrant an order of dissolution from the court.
“Both parties are to go their separate ways as they stand unmarried. The defendant is to vacate the plaintiff’s house for the sake of peace. Peace must be maintained between parties and any party that defaults in this will be punished by law,” she ruled.
The plaintiff had approached the court, seeking for the dissolution of their marriage over alleged lack of care, no rest of mind and adultery.
All the allegations were refuted by the wife who on the contrary, said her husband failed to take care of the family.
The court also awarded custody of the only child of the marriage, aged 10, to the father.
“The care, custody and maintenance of the child are the issues that are of paramount importance to the court. The proviso to this provision is that when the father has contributed or has tried to contribute to the child’s maintenance and upbringing for reasonable time, an unmarried biological father may be granted full parental responsibility over the child or children.
“Based on this proviso, coupled with the fact that defendant has proven that she cannot single-handedly take care of the child financially. Also based on the age of the child who is 10 years old, court holds that the child is matured enough to remain in custody of the plaintiff”, Mrs Ojo further ruled.
and then