He’s a drunkard, divorce -seeking wife tells court
By Edith Igbokwe
Too much alcohol and assault are the two grounds that a hairdresser, Mrs. Temitope Fatuga is standing on in her bid to get her husband, Abdulateef out of her life.
She is asking the court to dissolve the 10 year old marriage to put an end to being disgraced by her husband.
She added that her husband usually compared her to other women and threatened her life, maintaining that there was no more love to sustain the marriage.
She narrated some instances to back up her claims for the dissolution, stating how he always vomited whenever he was drunk and beat her at the slightest provocation.
In her statement, she added that the beating made her to lose 3-month old and 4-month pregnancies in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
She further accused her husband of being disobedient to her own parents and other elderly people in the community.
She told court that both became husband and wife in 2011 with the consent of their parents when they conducted an introduction ceremony without payment of bride prize.
According to her, the union produced two children, a boy who died after birth in 2011, and a girl child who is now nine years old.
Based on the accusations, the wife insisted that the marriage be dissolved while seeking the custody of the only child.
However, the husband pleaded that the marriage should not be dissolved though he admitted some of the allegations.
The husband, who is a spray painter admitted that he drinks but said not to stupor as alleged by his wife.
He also admitted that he did not pay his wife’s bride prize.
He also accepted to have been comparing his wife to his friends’ wives because he wanted her to emulate their good characters.
He, however, denied being disobedient to his parents and elders, beating and disgracing her in public and threatening her life, saying he only cursed her because of her bad attitude.
He disclosed that he still loves his wife.
Having listened to both parties, the court president, Mrs. Funmilayo Ogunsanwo, adjourned the case to Tuesday, October 26 for further details.
She had early referred them to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to settle their case but the effort was futile as the wife insisted that the marriage be dissolved.
