Ekiti court dissolves 35-yr-old marriage over frequent beatings

NAN-H-67
Dissolution
By Adedeji Egbebi
‎Ado-Ekiti, Feb. 23, 2017, (NAN) An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court on Thursday dissol‎ved the  35-year-old marriage between one Florence Oludare and her husband, Ojo.

The petitioner, Florence, had approached the court for the  dissolution of the union  on the grounds of frequent beatings, threat to life and lack of care for their  children.

The 50-year-old  trader  and labourer  told the court that her husband often beat her whenever she comes home late from the market or construction sites.

She said the respondent , who was often drunk, was also  not providing  food,  care and education  for the children.

The petitioner and mother of five said the apathy to the children’s education  had negatively impacted on them

She told the court that  two of  their daughters were impregnated while sleeping in other people’s homes.

The petitioner appealed to the court to dissolve her 35-year-old marriage with her husband as she could no longer cope with his attitude.

But the respondent, who is a retired transport driver, denied all the allegations  levelled against him by his wife.

The 75-year-old  admitted fighting  with his wife but  added  that he last gave her a beating 20 years ago.

Ojo accused his wife of adultery while working as a labourer on a  construction  site in Akure.

The respondent said  inspite of  warning his wife  against a particular lover who she claimed was her employer, she still went ahead to marry the man and had been living together in the last eight years.

He agreed that the union should be dissolved.

One of the witnesses  and daughter of the respo‎ndent claimed  that her mother was lying.

She said while her parents were to blame in the crisis that had dogged the marriage,  the couple’s daughter  said their father had been taking care of them while he was healthy.

The daughter of the couple,  however,  appealed to the court to dissolve the  marriage to enable her father have peace  of mind.

The President of the court, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, after hearing from both parties, observed that the union had broken down irretrievably  and consequently dissolved the ‎marriage.

She ruled that the last child of the couple, a 15-year- old, should continue to stay with the ‎respondent.

Akomolede ordered that the respondent should grant the petitioner access to the child while she   must notify him  before visiting the child.(NAN)
DJ/OJO
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)