A petitioner, Chiwendu, has alleged that her husband, Emeka deliberately poisoned her drink which led to her losing her pregnancy.
She made the allegation in a petition filed by her lawyer, Mr. Moses Ibe, before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Customary Court sitting in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council.
The petitioner is seeking, among others, the dissolution of her 13-old-marriage to her husband on the grounds that the union has broken down irretrievably.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the petition has been fixed for further mention on November 5, because of the absence of the respondent.
The petitioner stated that the union consummated in 2011 under the Native Law and Custom, as well as exchange of marital vows in a Church, has produced three children, ages, 12, 11 and two.
She alleged that her husband was a serial wife beater.
According to Chiwendu, her husband was violent, cruel, fetish, a serial wife beater and adulterer.
“After I had my second child, my husband said he was no longer interested in having other children.
“My mother-in-law, however, opposed that decision and continued to put pressure on us to have other children.
“Seven years after we had our second child, I became pregnant. When I informed my husband about it, he poisoned my drink, which made me lose that pregnancy.
“In 2021, I became pregnant again but kept it to myself because of my last experience.
“When the pregnancy was two months, it was during the COVID-19, and my husband’s brother Mr. Uche Nwadi, arranged for the whole family to be vaccinated.
“I had to excuse myself from the vaccination, by informing my husband that I was pregnant.
“When my husband saw the result of the test, he denied responsibility of the pregnancy, and accused me of adultery.
“He sent me out of our matrimonial home to my parents.
“He packed my belongings out thereafter, and dumped them in our house,” she said.
The petitioner said she was in her parents’ house for three months after which their issue was resolved on the agreement that a DNA test would be conducted after she put to bed.
She stated that the baby after delivery was a carbon copy of her husband, and that that was the last she heard of the DNA.
“My husband is always in the habit of denying my pregnancies, and will always threaten to conduct a DNA test.
“But he has always accepted the children as his at the end of the day because they all look like him.
“My husband is a womaniser.
“He also keeps late nights and has turned me to his punching bag.
“On September17, he told me that things were no longer working well for him.
“He later came back and told me that he had visited about five different spiritualists who told him that my mother and I were responsible for his travails.
“He accused us of taking his photograph to Umudike in Abia State, where his destiny was tied down.
”He also accused me of adultery and lesbianism.
She stated that on September 19, while she was in her shop at Dutse Central Market, Abuja, her husband, in company with some men came to chase her out, packed all her goods, locked up the shop with another key and threatened to kill her if she came back to the house.
“I have no access to my children and have made several attempts to see them in their school, but all have been to no avail.
“The school management told me my husband served them a court order, restraining me from having any communication with my children.
The petitioner said that about a week after she was thrown out, her husband brought in a 24-year-old lady who now occupies their room and has been maltreating their children.
“Our children’s health has deteriorated and attempts to resolve our differences, which included my parents leading a delegation to my husband’s brother, failed.
“I suffered psychological, emotional and physical abuses while with my husband, and I am presently going through trauma because our children are still in my husband’s custody,’’ she said.
The petitioner, therefore, urged the court to dissolve their marriage, grant her custody of their three children and restrain her husband from using thugs or security agents to harass her.
She sought the order of the court compelling the respondent to provide a suitable accommodation for her and their three children and to continue paying the children’s school fees to university level.
She urged the court to order her husband to pay the sum of N1 million monthly to her for feeding, medicals and maintenance of their children.
The petitioner also urged the court to order the respondent to return her personal belongings, clothing and the wares and items he carted away from her shop at Dutse Market.
The respondent is yet to enter appearance or file defence to the petition.
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