‘My husband locked me up in the room, made me beg to eat’

A Grade I Area Court, Lugbe, Abuja, on Friday, dissolved a 13-year-old marriage between one Fausiya Abdul-Hameed and her husband, Abdul Hameed, over the latter’s lack of love and maltreatment of his wife.

Delivering judgment, the judge, Saleh Ramat, held that their marriage had broken down irretrievably.

He dissolved their wedlock on the grounds that the estranged couple had lost interest in their union and had also consented to dissolving it.

“Both parties have consented to the dissolution of their marriage and the respondent has also asked the court to grant his wife’s prayer of divorce,” the judge held.

He directed the petitioner to file a separate suit in another court for the recovery of her property from her ex-husband’s house, as his court had no jurisdiction over such matter.

Ramat also ordered the petitioner to file a fresh application before his court for the custody of their two children.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Fausiya had earlier in her petition alleged that her husband was maltreating her and had refused to take care of her and their children.

She claimed that as a result of her husband’s behaviour, their first daughter died.

“He doesn’t feed the family. In fact, we usually beg to feed,” she said.

Fausiya further said that her husband used to lock her up in the house and deny her access to people.

She further stated that when neighbours got to know about his maltreatment of her, they reported the matter to the Chief of Gbessa community for his intervention.

Fausiya said, “He was invited several times by the chief, but he never showed up.

“When I couldn’t take it anymore, I traveled to Lagos to stay with my mother for two years.

“The community decided to rent an apartment for me because my life was in danger.

“My husband no longer have any love for me.  I want the court to dissolve this marriage and help me recover all my personal belongings from his house.

“I also want to have the custody of our two children,” she added.

The respondent did not deny the allegations made by his wife, neither did he object to her prayer for divorce.

 

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