NAN-H-109
Divorce
Ariwodola Idowu
Ado Ekiti, May17, 2017 (NAN)
Couples seeking divorce in Ekiti State have been urged to approach family court rather than the regular court.
The State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Owoseni Ajayi, gave the advice during interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday.
“Rather than approach the regular court seeking divorce over petty excuses, there is family court in place set up by government.
“There are several other counselling centres where complaints could be lodged and addressed without necessarily resorting to separation.’’
He said most couples do not know the negative consequences of divorce until children of such broken homes begin to feel the pinch of their parent’s action or start constituting nuisance to the society.
According to him, records of several of such divorces from courts indicate that most marriages crashed due to inability of the husband to cope with the adverse effects of recession.
He, therefore, urged couples with such challenges to learn to tolerate each other by being considerate and tolerable of one another.
He said it was in recognition of this that the state government decided to introduce a number of policies and programmes, including revolving loans as well as payment of N5000 as stipend to residents, especially jobless women and needy men.
He said the governor had also empowered hundreds of middle class women as tailors, hairdressers, and beer and food sellers with millions of naira as part of his efforts to keep families together.
He advised couples to live within their means by not engaging in ventures that could affect their little incomes, such as raising too many children they do not have the capacity to cope with
He said he had personally taken over the direct and speedy prosecution of anyone accused of rape in the state.
He said the ministry had the mandate of Gov. Ayo Fayose to ensure accelerated prosecution of anyone caught and ensure that culprits were denied bail.
According to him, the new policy has been yielding fruitful results, with the conviction of two rapists in less than one month.
“A boy who raped a 75 year old woman at Ogbese has been prosecuted and jailed, while a 42 year old who raped a 4-year old minor has equally been given life sentence. We are still expecting judgment for another rapist whose case is still pending
“It is the reasoning of government that by the time all members of the notorious gangs find their abode in prison, that will send signals to others on the risk and dangers inherent in such wicked act”, he said.
NAN reports that no fewer than five marriages are dissolved every week across the state.
Many attributed this development to irreconcilable differences among feuding couples, chief of which bothers on outright abandonment and inability of the husbands to take good care of their wives and children. (NAN)
ARIS/IEA
Edited by Idahosa Asowata