A man, identified as Kazeem Yekini, has approached a Mapo Grade A Customary Court in Ibadan, Oyo State capital to dissolve his marriage to his wife over alleged bullying and blackmail.
The divorce-seeking man told the court that the union between him and his wife, Opeyemi, has ruined his life, alleging that his estranged wife was in the habit of blackmailing him everywhere and causing untold damage to his reputation.
Furthermore, the man also told the court that his wife cast a spell on him, causing him untold hardship while at the same time promising to continue to blackmail him all around Ibadan.
He alleged, “As if these were not enough, she locks me up in a room, thus preventing me from going to my daily business.
“She also seized my car keys and invited the `Amotekun’ corps (the security network in the Southwest) to deal with me for no reason.’’
On why their neighbours and family members did not attempt to intervene in their incessant quarrels, Yekini claimed that everyone around them are scared of Opeyemi.
Under cross-examination, the wife did not deny the allegations by her husband, she pleaded with the court to go on with the dissolution.
“It is true that I have been fighting my husband without justification.
“Before he decided to come to court, however, I tried all I could to pacify him, but he refused to listen to my pleas for mercy.
“If he maintains his stand, I pray the court to grant me custody of the only child between us,’’ Opeyemi pleaded.
In her judgment, the court’s president, Mrs S.M. Akintayo noted that the marriage between the duo was not duly consummated and, hence, illegal.
She pointed out that there was no evidence before the court that Yekini paid Opeyemi’s bride price in their course of living together.
She explained further that other essential things necessary for a valid marriage as stipulated in the Customary Law were not presented before Yekini and Opeyemi started to live as husband and wife.
She concluded that there was no marriage to be dissolved in the first place.
Akintayo awarded custody of the only child produced by the union to Opeyemi and ordered Yekini to pay a monthly allowance of N10,000 for the child’s upkeep.
She ruled that the duo could go their separate ways but ordered them to maintain peace and order.