A Customary Court in Mapo, Ibadan, on Friday dissolved the five year-old marriage between Mr Olumide Asogbon and her wife, Idowu, a mother of two, over threat to her life.
The President of the court, Mr Ademola Odunade, held that Idowu and Olumide should go their separate ways since they had agreed to do that.
The court held that Idowu should take custody of the two children produced by the union.
It ordered Olumide to be providing a monthly allowance of N4000 for the upkeep of each of the children and be responsible for their education and other welfare.
“I want men and women intending to get marry to learn from the mistakes that occurred between Idowu and Olumide so as to guard against the same pitfalls,’’ he said.
Idowu had told the court that her husband was threatening her life by shaving some portions of her hair and using it for spiritual purposes.
“My lord, after a series of battering and psychological tormenting, Olumide invited me into his living room one day and shaved off some strings of hair on my head with a razor blade.
“As I struggled with him, he took a knife and wanted to slice off my head, but sympathizers saved my life from him.
“I survived it, but ever since that day, I have been experiencing very serious headache.
“Before that time, Olumide had in the company of his other wife, ejected me from my matrimonial home even when I was carrying a second pregnancy.
“He often complained that he never loved me and that he was not destined to be my husband.
“All my pleas to him fell on deaf ears as he kept tarnishing my image around that I have infected him with HIV/AIDS and gonorrhea,’’ she said.
The complainant said her husband wanted her to swear by some sand he brought from somewhere if she was not cheating on him, but that she insisted on swearing by the Bible.
“Please, prevail on him to release my strings of hair so that I will be relieved of excruciating headache,’’ Idowu pleaded.
The defendant told the court that he used to have sex with only her, but when she infected him with gonorrhea he realized she was into prostitution and decided to end the marriage.
“My lord, I want everyone present here to learn from my disobedience to the soothsayer who warned me never to have anything to do with Idowu.
“The soothsayer said in her presence that we were never meant to be couple because Idowu would live to be a wayward wife.
“However, I wanted to repay Idowu for good because she really assisted me when I was in school by providing for my needs.
“Idowu herself wooed me and I did not reject her and I even sat for her SSCE so that she could have a school certificate, he said.
He further said that he “caught her in adulterous mood” and when he could no longer bear her waywardness he wanted to abandon her and travel outside the country.
“I gave her some sand to swear whether she was into adultery or not, but she didn’t, he added. (NAN)
Court dissolves 5 year-old marriage over threat to life
