A 51-year-old Civil servant, Olubukola Oyedele on Thursday pleaded with an Iyana-Ipaja Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve her 20-year-old marriage to her husband, Mathew, on the grounds of threat to life and lack of care.
Olubukola, a resident of No. 19 Iyanu St., Ayobo in Lagos, said her husband threatened to kill her with dangerous weapons.
“My husband threatened to injure me with hot electrical iron and cut my body with razor blade in the presence of his mother.
“There was a time he beat me for daring to remove the gas burner from its position and injured my eyes,” she said.
Olubukola said that she reported the matter to his family members but they refused to do anything about it.
“My Lord, if I do not have a child for him, at least, I should have peace of mind and sanity.
“I have informed his family members that I am no longer interested in the marriage,” she told the court.
The petitioner further said her husband did not take good care of her and all efforts made by their pastor and community chairman to allow peace reign in their home proved abortive.
“I reported the case to our pastor in 2017 when it became serious. It has even gotten worse now.
“Throughout 2019, he threatened to divorce me and stopped giving me money for feeding and my upkeep.
“I plead with the court to separate us and stop my husband from harassing me,” she said.
The respondent, Mathew, 53, denied threatening his wife’s life but confessed to beating her twice because she refused to obey his instructions.
“I did not threaten her life my Lord. There was nothing like that.
“With the issue of gas, we were both using it. When the first burner spoilt, she told me and I bought another one.
“Last year, precisely June, I told her to contribute at least N5000 for the upkeep of the house, she refused.
“In August, I discovered my wife has packed up the cooking gas. For five days, she refused to return it. This also made me remove the hose because I bought it.
“On the issue of beating, I instructed my wife not to put charcoal iron on the gas but she was adamant. This made me to beat her.
He urged the court not to dissolve the marriage because he still loved his wife.
“The love is still there though we live like cat and mouse.”
The president of the court, Prince Adewale Adegoke urged both parties to maintain the peace and adjourned the case until Feb. 16 for judgement. (NAN)
