Grade A Customary Court, Oja Oba, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State has ruled in the divorce case brought before it by a woman, Taiwo Afolayan, against her husband, Kehinde Ayoola on the accounts that he denied him access to the children in their marriage.
She also prayed for an order for the full custody of their children whom she stated were maltreated by the defendant and often times locked up in the house.
The plaintiff further pleaded for an order restraining the defendant from threatening and interfering with her private life.
The defendant who made an appearance at the first hearing of the case denied all the allegations the plaintiff brought against him.
He presented to the court records of proceedings of two Grade C Courts in Oyo State, Grade C Customary Court, Apete, Ido Local Government and that of Arooye Grade Customary Court, Egbeda Local Government respectively, the former dissolving their marriage and the latter granting him custody of their children.
Giving judgment after she had heard the plaintiff, the court president, Mrs S.M Akintayo stated that a careful perusal of the proceedings presented to the court by the defendant, showed that both parties had been to two different Grade C Customary Courts.
She explained that Grade C Customary Court, Apete, Ido Local Government, Oyo State had earlier dissolved the union between the plaintiff and defendant on June 16, 2014 and the plaintiff was warned not to make trouble with the defendant.
She added that Arooye Grade C Customary Court, Egbeda Local Government, also in Oyo State, on December 12, 2016, ruled that their children remain in the custody of the defendant, while the plaintiff was granted access to them.
According to Akintayo, from the foregoing, it was obvious that the filing of the suit was an abuse of court processes by the plaintiff and should in no way be encouraged.
Taiwo in her testimony, “I met my husband in 2009 at The Polythecnic, Ibadan.
“We had an introduction ceremony and later held a traditional wedding in 2010 after courting for a while.
“He paid my bride price, but it was returned to him.
“We got married without having a source of livelihood, but my husband later got a job and we became a bit comfortable.
“We had our first child after these.
“My husband who was once reliable and responsible suddenly changed immediately he resumed work.
“He started coming home late. I complained about this, but he refused to change.
“Kehinde’s behaviour gradually degenerated. He would disappear from home for weeks and fail to give an explanation as to his attitude.
“He refused that I work and earn a living which did not go down well with me.
“I detested the idea of having to beg him for money all the time I needed to buy myself things.
“Gradually, our relationship began to fall apart and we started living like strangers in the home.
“Before we knew it, we started taking decisions on individual basis and doing things separately.
“My husband became devilish and violent.
“He almost killed me when we had a misunderstanding one of the nights.
“He held my throat and attempted to stifle me.
“I moved out of his house after this because my life was obviously not safe.
“Our differences were later resolved by our family members and I moved back home.
“We had our second child after this.
“The peace in our marriage was however short lived as my husband went back to assaulting me physically.
“Kehinde would beat me to a pulp and then lock me inside the room.
“He always threatened to kill me.
“I worked out of our marriage when I could no longer bear the pain and ridicule he exposed me to almost every day.
“He now metes out the same punishment to our children.
“He maltreats them and locks them up in the room.
“Our second child presently stays with one of our neighbours.
“My husband denies me access to these children and frustrates every attempt I make to interact with them.
“My lord, I pray that our marriage be dissolved and our children put in my custody.
“I also beg the court to restrain him from threatening and interfering with my private life.”
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