Court dissolves 19-year marriage over threat to life

The President of a Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan, Ademola Odunade, on Friday dissolved the 19-year marriage between one Kehinde Anthony and husband, Samuel, over threat to life and irreconcilable differences.

Odunade said that the court had no other option than to dissolve the union as a result of irreconcilable differences.

He ordered that the petitioner and the respondent be separated.

Odunade, however, awarded custody of the children produced by the union to the petitioner and directed the respondent to pay N10,000 monthly as feeding allowance for the children.

The arbitrator also ordered the respondent to ensure adequate provision for the welfare and education of the four children.

Earlier, Kehinde had told the court that her husband was “wicked and irresponsible.’’

“My lord, Samuel has never lived up to his responsibility as a husband and father because he keeps evading his responsibilities at home.

“I have to work extra hard to feed and send the children to school.

“In fact, Samuel constantly subjected me to battery, which had adversely affected my health,” Kehinde said.

In his response, the respondent agreed to the divorce request of the petitioner although he denied all the allegations levelled against him.

“My lord, Kehinde is a blatant liar who derives pleasure in parking in and out of my house on a yearly basis.

“I am not surprised by her leaving our matrimonial house because she parks out of my house every now and then. It is her attitude.

“For no reason at all and at her convenience, Kehinde leaves the home and this is due to her constant visit to unholy places and people such as witch doctors.

“Worse still, Kehinde recently inflicted a very serious injury on me after she and her concubine attacked me.

“Unknown to me, she was in a romantic relationship with the person she introduced to me as pastor.

“The man sometimes mediated between Kehinde and I whenever we had misunderstanding.

“After they both attacked and injured me, they reported me at a Police station, telling lies against me.

“However, the Police later found out that the man and Kehinde were, indeed, dating each other.

“It was in the process of her movement from one church to another and one fetish centre to another that she usually encountered problems,” Samuel said.