A five-year-old marriage is on the brink of collapse as Mrs Musilimat Olasuyi told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos that her husband, Oluwagbemiga, permitted another man to sleep with her in their matrimonial home.
The 48-year-old trader told the court on Monday that the man made love to her in her matrimonial home with her husband’s approval.
“It was not my fault.
“ I did not voluntarily submit myself but the man in question charmed me to make love to me with my husband’s agreement all because of his selfish ambition,” she said.
The petitioner said that her husband threw her belongings out of her matrimonial home during her absence during which her over N800, 000 kept inside her different boxes were stolen.
“I went to the hospital to take care of my daughter from my first marriage, who suffered from gas explosion.
“There, I was told that my husband came with some boys to our matrimonial home to pack all my belongings outside.
“After some days; I came home and I discovered that all my boxes and bags had been ransacked; some were missing and my money stolen.
“My jewelery valued at N250, 000 and the N250, 000 given to me by my son-in law to start the construction works on his landed property close to us were missing.
“Also, N100,000 for my customer’s cassava (garri), N250,000 being our mosque’s money kept in my custody and N30,000 my trading money got missing.’’
Musilimat submitted a written petition to the court seeking redress and judicial actions against her husband.
The estranged wife wanted to know if it was proper for her husband to throw her property out without an order from the court.
She also demanded to know if her husband would not be liable for the cost of her lost money and property.
The petitioner was also requesting the court to know if her husband should not pay for inconvenience as she and the only child of the marriage are homeless.
She pleaded with the court to dissolve the union saying that she no longer love her husband.
However, the petitioner’s husband, Oluwagbemiga, accused his wife of infidelity.
“My wife does not have respect for her marriage vow, she makes love to her concubine on our matrimonial bed.”
The 55-year-old sand supplier also said that his wife was fetish.
“My wife is diabolical, she comes home with different charms and objects; she gave me a soap on nine consecutive times to bath with.”
According to him, he had given his wife a three-month quit notice to vacate his house but she refused.
“I gave her a quit notice to leave my house; she told me to do my worse that she was going nowhere.
“So, I do not have any other option than to pack her things out from my house,” he said.
The respondent consented to the dissolution of marriage, saying the love between the two of them had long faded.
Responding to Musilimat’s petition, the court’s president, Mr Akin Akinniyi, said that it was wrong in a valid marriage for a husband to pack out his wife’s belongings from their matrimonial home.
“It is legally wrong for a man to throw out his wife’s property.
“The respondent should have requested for the return of the dowry he paid on the wife from the wife’s parents.
“Better still, he should have sought the dissolution of the marriage at the court of law before such an action could take place.
“The husband should have rented another apartment for the petitioner and the child since he does not want her again.
“He should have moved her belongings there for safe custody, before the petitioner’s return.
“The husband will be responsible for any cost of missing valuables and the wife is entitled to compensation,’’ he said.
Akinniyi urged the estranged couple to maintain peace and adjourned the case until April 26 for judgment. (NAN)