A man, Kasali, has approached Grade A Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, praying that it stopped the relationship between him and his wife, Kafayat, on the accounts of lack of love, verbal assault and constant fight.
Kasali stated that his marriage to Kafayat had hit the rock.
According to him, the love between both had waned, and as such, they were always at each other’s neck.
The plaintiff stated that the defendant had a caustic tongue and was in the habit of raining curses on him.
Kasali, in his divorce suit, also sought custody of two of their children with Kafayat, whom he stated are male and therefore needed to be groomed to be responsible men in the nearest future.
Kafayat agreed to divorce but refused that Kasali has custody of the said children.
The defendant explained that she had always being responsible for the welfare of their children, most especially in the area of their education.
She added that her husband rented a room for their two children in his custody who are teenagers thus exposing them to the vices in their community, because his first wife refused that they lived with her in his house.
Kasali, in his testimony, said, “My lord, my wife has made my life miserable.
“All I pray for is to be disengaged from our union because I no longer love her.
“Kafayat has a caustic tongue and has consistently rained curses on me.
“No man going about with such curses can ever make it in life.
“I do not want to wait till my wife ruins my life completely.
“She has made peace to desert me because of her constant fight.
“My wife will come to my house, shout on me, and turn the whole place upside down.
“Kafayat will then jump at me, hitting and punching me.
“She has turned me to a source of ridicule in the presence of our neighbours and in the neighbourhood.
“I beg the court to grant me custody of our children under her care because she is not a good example to them and would lead them astray.”
Kafayat in her response said, “I agree to divorce. There is no point hanging on to a man of no worth.
“My lord, I plead with the court to rule that the two children my husband mentioned remain with me.
“I have always been responsible for the welfare of our four children.
“He has two of them with him, while the younger two are with me.
“My husband carries out no responsibility on our children.
“He would not pay their school fees nor buy them text books unless I sent money from Saudi Arabia where I was working.
“I am solely responsible for their feeding, education, and other necessary needs.
“My husband to my chagrin rented a room for our teenage children and left them there by themselves.
“According to him, his first wife refused that he brought them into his house
“He exposed our children to the vices in their community, and they are now almost getting out of hand.
“He once handed one of our children over to a female leader in his church, who treated our child like a slave and hampered his education.
“I fought tooth and nail before he took him away from his spiritual mother.
“My lord, it is obvious that my husband has failed in his duty towards me and our children.
“I appeal to the court to grant me custody of all our children so as to give them proper attention.
Ruling, the court president, Mrs S.M Akintayo, dissolved their wedlock.
According to her, the defendant readily acceded to divorce.
Akintayo stated that it was highly unconventional for a caring and rational father to rent an apartment for his underage children and leave them there to live by themselves, taking into consideration the security imbalances in the country and the exposure to youth delinquency.
She stated that the court had no option but to release the children to the parent willing and capable of providing them adequate care and maximum security.
Akintayo thus granted the defendant custody of their four children while the plaintiff was allowed access to them.
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