NAN-H-48
Union
By Deborah Akpede
Lagos, Feb. 22, 2017 (NAN) Mrs Funmilayo Okeeyi on Wednesday lost her 31-year-old marriage to adultery as an Igando Customary Court in Lagos granted the request of her estranged husband and dissolved the union.
Delivering judgment, President of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, said the petitioner was adamant in spite of the mediation from the court and family members.
“Since the petitioner insists on divorce after several interventions, the court has no choice than to dissolve the union despite the fact that the wife still claims she loves her husband.
“The court hereby pronounced the marriage between Mr Kolawole Okeeyi and Mrs Funmilayo Okeeyi dissolved today; both parties henceforth ceased to be husband and wife.
“Both are free to go their separate ways without any hindrances and molestation,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Kolawole Okeeyi had approached the court seeking to end his 31-year-old marriage over his wife’s infidelity.
“My wife is having an affair with our pastor; I got to know when I wanted to use her phone to call the pastor to report her for starving my mother.
“I picked her phone and I saw on the screen “sent message”.
“I mistakenly clicked on it and the message opened, I saw several love messages my wife had sent to and received from our pastor.
“I showed her the messages when she came in, but she begged me, I seized the phone and later confronted our pastor with the text messages and he told me to do my worst.
“I also caught her with my elder brother in a hotel in Oyo State; I wanted to ignore them, but I later confronted them, but they denied it,” he said.
The petitioner said that he was attacked by unknown men on two occasions and he suspected that his wife was behind the attacks.
“In Aug. 20, 2013, I got to the front of my gate, as I honked for my children to open the gate, suddenly three men jumped down from a motorcycle, pointing a gun at me.
“But for the timely intervention of the police, I would have been killed. When I entered my house, I told my wife what happened, but she did not say anything.
“Four months later, while coming back from work, three men intercepted me, pointing a gun at me to come down and enter my booth, I complied and they drove-off.
“But luckily for me, my phone rang, one of them picked it, the caller addressed me as pastor and said that I should come to the church early that I will be ministering.
“One of the men said that they should not kill me that I am a pastor; that in the Bible, God said that they should not touch his anointed nor do His prophets harm.
“After a hot argument among themselves, they stopped the car, stripped me naked and absconded with my car.
“A good Samaritan gave me some clothes to wear. When I got home, I told my wife again about the incident, but she said nothing.”
Okeeyi said because of these calamities and threat to his life, he left his home to squat with friends.
He urged the court to dissolve the union as he was no longer in love with his wife.
The respondent, Funmilayo, 53, a trader, denied all the allegations.
“The text messages on my phone were forged; I never sent nor received any love messages from our pastor.
“My husband saw me and his brother in a hotel, but we are not dating, his brother just followed me to book for a room when I went for a burial in Oyo State,’’ she said.
Funmilayo alleged that some of her husband’s family members had also harassed her.
“When I was pregnant with our fifth baby, some of my husband’s family stormed our house, accusing me of having an affair, they beat me to a pulp and I was rushed to the hospital,” she said.
The mother of five boys urged the court not to grant her husband’s request, saying that she was still in love with him. (NAN)
DOA/EOB/TA
Edited by Edith Bolokor/Tajudeen Atitebi