My wife connived with her mother to dupe me, man tells court

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2 years ago

Grade A Customary Court in Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has adjourned further hearing in a divorce suit brought before it by a man, Agbaje Semiu against his wife, Yemi Semiu whom he accused of being irresponsible, defiant and conniving with her mother to dupe him.

Semiu stated that Yemi allowed a third party, that is her mother to disrupt their marriage through negative influence.

According to the plaintiff, the defendant was always seeking for every opportunity to travel and be with her mother who gladly welcomed her into her home.

He added that he had no rest of mind because he was always anxious concerning her safety as a result of her habit of returning home very late from her mother’s place.

Semiu also said that his wife humiliated him by borrowing money from people who were below her class in the neighbourhood without his knowledge and refused to pay back.

According to him, Yemi walked out of their marriage and moved in with her mother, after he refused that her mother stayed with them due to her excesses.

The plaintiff prayed the court, if his prayer was heard, to grant him custody of their children.

The defendant did not come to court despite being served court summonses.

Semiu in his evidence said, “I got married to my wife 20 years ago under the Islamic injunction.

“I promised to sponsor her Master’s degree programme and even PhD if she was interested in reading up to that level.

“I fulfilled my promise to her by enrolling her for a Master’s programme shortly after we got married, but this good gesture of mine gradually tore our home apart.

“Yemi neglected me and refused to place value on our relationship the moment she started attending classes.

“My wife cultivated the habit of branching at her mother’s place before returning home. As a result of this, she returned home late almost every day.

“The more I complained, the worse she became.

“My consolation then was that she would soon finish with her studies and that our lifestyle would go back to normal, but this was not so.

“Yemi while working on her project, again, began to request to visit her mother which did not go down well with me.

“Apart from the fact that her constant visits to her mother’s place tell on my purse since I always gave her bus fare, I got worried all the time because of her safety.

“I tried to discourage my wife from moving around late by calling her attention to the ills in the society, the chief being kidnapping, but all I said made no sense to her.

“Added to these was the fact that I was left to prepare my dinner by myself almost all the time.

“I called my mother in-law’s attention to all that was going on in our home and she promised to talk to my wife, but I saw no change in her.

“I decided to go hard on my wife and gave a standing order that she must return home latest by 6:00 pm every day, but she flouted my order.

“The first time after I laid down my rules, she came back from her mother’s place around 8:00 pm and I refused her access into our apartment.

“She called her mother on phone and she pleaded with me to let her in.

“Two other times after this, she came back home much later and I kept her outside for 20 minutes and two hours respectively.

“She called her mother again at these instances and she pleaded on her behalf.

“My mother in-law on noticing that I had taken a firm stand on the issue started coming to our place every two weeks and would spend three days with us.

“Any time she was leaving, I would be forced to give her money, and this was again affecting my finance.

“My mother in-law made our home unwelcoming for me any time I returned home from work as a result of her excesses.

“My lord, I told my wife not to work since she was schooling so that she could have enough time for her studies, but she turned a deaf ear to me.

“Yemi disgraced me by going behind me to borrow money from people who were below her standard or class in the neighbourhood with the pretext of starting a business.

“My wife put to bed our second child through cesarean operation and her mother was at her bedside throughout the time she was in the hospital.

“I attended to every bill I was given at the hospital swiftly and ensured I did not owe the hospital authorities a dime.

“On the day my wife was to be discharged, she and her mother came up with a fresh bill and demanded that I gave my mother in-law the money to pay.

“I queried the bill in question, and at the end of the day, I discovered it was a fake one. My wife and her mother obviously wanted to dupe me.

“One of our children took ill and was on admission. My wife announced to me that her mother was coming to take care of him and I stood against it.

“Yemi walked out of our marriage as soon as our son was discharged from the hospital and moved in with her mother.

“My lord, I am ready to move on with my life since my wife, obviously does not treasure our marriage, while her mother has immensely contributed to its failure.

“I, therefore, pray this honourable court to bring our wedlock to an end and grant me custody of our children.”

The court president, Mrs S.M Akintayo, after she had heard the plaintiff, adjourned the case.

She ordered that a new hearing notice be issued and served the defendant.

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