A 35-year-old woman, Mrs Esther Alexander, has dragged her husband before an Akure Customary court in Ondo State, seeking the dissolution of her 21-year-old marriage to her husband, Mr Isawa Alexander.
Esther, a trader and mother of four children, alleged that her husband, Alexander “is not responsible.”
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She stated, “Anytime I refuse him sex, he will beat the hell out of me. He is fond of destroying my property whenever we had a misunderstanding.
“He impregnated me after my first period, but before I knew I was pregnant, it was six months after we had sex. My husband accused me of promiscuity. He never trusted me for once in the marriage. He eventually told me he is no longer interested in the marriage.
“I built a house with my wealth but my husband did not appreciate that; all he could do was to beat me. He said he would kill me and nobody would query him for it. My husband stole my N100,000 which I wanted to use to buy goods. He was always maltreating me.”
The petitioner urged the court to order the respondent to move out of her house because she was fed up with the marriage.
She requested that the custody of the children in the marriage be awarded to her, but prayed that her husband be responsible for the feeding, education and maintenance of their children.
The respondent was not in court to defend himself, but he was represented by his lawyer, Mr E. J. Akhagbenin.
Counsel to the petitioner, Mr Akande Toyin Imoru, asked the court for an adjournment to enable his witness, Samson, who was said to be the eldest child of the couple, be present in court.
The president of the court, Mr Oluwasegun Rotiba, ordered both parties to embrace peace and seek ways of settling the matter in the interest of their children.
Rotiba adjourned the case till August 18, 2020.