My once innocent, decent wife now dresses provocatively, visits joints, clubs —Husband

A business man, Joseph Ezekiel, has told Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Ibadan, Oyo State, he is no longer interested in his union with his wife, Ijeoma Ezekiel.

Joseph told the court his wife is a pain in the neck.

According to him, he had tolerated her for long and was fed up with her.

He thus prayed the court to dissolve their marriage and grant him custody of all their children except the first.

“I married Ijeoma at a tender age. I took good care of her; she blossomed and became a beautiful lady.

“She was loving and caring. I was everything to her.

“She took whatever I tell her worm, hook and sinker. There was never a time she questioned my authority.

“When we started having our children, we both ensured we played our roles as dutiful parents.

“Everything was fine in our home, until Ijeoma started growing wings, “Joseph told the court.

“She gradually started to disobey me. Ijeoma who never dared to look me directly in the face, now flouts my orders and shouts back at me whenever we have a misunderstanding.

“The first time she did this, I knew I was in trouble.

“My lord, the Ijeoma now living under my roof is not the woman I used to know.

“My wife is no more submissive and respectful.  She now rubs shoulders with me in the home.

“She fights me every day.  The last time we fought, she hit me on the head with a stick. I bled profusely and my head was stitched.

“She not only fights me, she fights our landlord and his wife too and they have threatened to send us packing, “the plaintiff stated.

“Ijeoma is no longer faithful to me. She now has strings of lovers who call her at odd hours. There is a particular man who calls her around 10:00 pm every day. She would pick his calls in my presence and whisper to him romantic words. I’m sure it was the man who bought her the expensive android phone she’s using.

“Ijeoma now dresses provocatively  whenever she’s going out, forgetting that she’s a married woman. She loves to expose sensitive parts of her body and apply heavy perfume. My wife is a regular face at joints and clubs. She comes late in the night and sometimes the following morning.

“Each time I demand for an explanation on where she had gone, she would tell me to my face that I have no control over her, “he added.

“My parents were with my elder brother for four months, but my wife never deemed it fit to pay them a visit. She insisted they were the ones who should pay her a visit.

“The unfortunate thing is that my daughter, who is our eldest child has taken after her mother.

“She has no regard for me. The last time I chastised her, she slapped me five times in the presence of her mother who saw nothing bad in what her daughter had done.

“I told her I won’t curse her because if I do, she won’t end well.

“I want my wife and daughter to leave my house so that I can live with my other three children in peace. But if she is insisting on having all the children, she can leave with them.

The defendant refused to accede to her husband’s plea of divorce giving the welfare of their children as her reason.

Ijeoma stated that the plaintiff never cared if the children ate or put on decent clothes, while she and her husband were both responsible for the payment of the children’s school fees.

“Our daughter almost missed sitting for both WAEC and NECO examinations because my husband lied that he didn’t have money.

“I went to search his wardrobe and found N12, 000 where he hid it. I took the money and gave our daughter to register for NECO.

“He beats me at every given opportunity. Last year, he beat me till I lost my pregnancy.

“When his parents came, they never bothered to check on me.

“He lied that I visit joints and clubs.

“Two months after losing my baby, he asked me to look for a job.

“I got a catering job in a hotel not too far from our home. I often close late and would trek home in order to save money.

“Many times, I feed my family with whatever food I bring from work, while I also clothe the children.

“My husband and I both pay our children’s school fees, “she told the court.

“He told his parents malicious things about me and they vowed to get him a new wife.

“He has come to court to get rid of me so that his new wife can come in, “the defendant said.

The court president, Chief Ademola Odunade, after listening to the duo, observed that the love between them had dwindled.

He stated that it was necessary that the court dissolves the union in order to avoid a situation whereby the couple would harm each other.

Odunade thus dissolved their marriage and gave custody of their last two children to the defendant.

He ordered the plaintiff to pay a monthly fee of N10, 000 as their feeding allowance.

He was also asked to pay the defendant N3, 000 to move her belongings out of his home and N12, 000 as one year rent for a new apartment.