Man to court: Separate me from my wife before I kill her

An aged taxi driver, Ganiyu Adenekan, has asked a Customary court sitting in Ake, Abeokuta, Ogun State, to end his 22-year-old marriage to his wife, Morufat, or he could kill her.

Adenekan, telling the court yesterday that the marriage had been fraught with frequent fighting and irreconcilable differences in the last 10 years, alleged that Morufat wanted to kill him and urged the court to quickly dissolve the marriage “before I succeed in outsmarting her.”

The petitioner equally prayed the court to grant him custody of the three children in the marriage –  Toheeb, Rasak and Abiodun.

“Both our families are fed up with the matter. It has been 10 years that I have been managing the issue, but it is time to let her go.

“I don’t want her to kill me. If I undress now, you will see a number of marks she had inflicted on my body. If she doesn’t succeed in killing me, I may outsmart her. But before I commit murder, I want this honourable court to separate us,” he prayed.

Morufat, who didn’t oppose dissolution, accused Adenekan of irresponsibility, saying all the allegations levelled against her amounted to giving a dog bad name to hang it.

She, however, appealed to the court not to grant custody of the children to the petitioner, saying he lacked the capacity to give them a befitting upbringing.

However, when the president of the court, Mrs A. O. Abimbola, inquired from two of the children, Rasak and Abiodun, who they would prefer to stay with, they indicated preference for their mother.

When Mrs Abimbola asked Adenekan how much he could afford monthly for the upkeep of the children if the court decides to grant the wife their custody, he retorted, “Your Honour, at my age, how do I cope if the children who are supposed to assist me in running errands are in her custody? If the court grants her custody, she should be ready to take full responsibility for their welfare.”

The court president then adjourned the matter till April 27, 2020 for judgment.