A woman, Mrs. Olamide Lawal, has narrated to the Customary Court in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, how her husband, Saheed, beat her every night after getting drunk demanding sex.
According to her, her husband has for a long time failed in his responsibilities as the man of the house but she works round the clock to ensure she puts food on the table.
Lawal also narrated how her children pleaded that she should allow her husband to have sex with her to avoid further issues.
“Saheed has a caustic tongue. He abuses me anytime he calls me on the phone. Not done, he will rain curses on me,” Olamide said while giving her testimony.
“My husband failed in his responsibility towards me and our children. He never gave us a feeding allowance nor cared about our children’s education. He passed the buck of his responsibility to me.
“I worked round the clock to put food on the table and also gave our children transport fare five times in a week to go to school
“But all I got as a reward was his maltreatment of me.
“Saheed is a drunk. He spent his income on alcohol. He returned home drunk every night and would drag me out of bed and beat me to a pulp.
“He sent me out of the house into the cold on many occasions.
“We almost fought every night because he would come demanding for sex which I always refused him. I was not happy having sex with him.
“Our children always appealled to me to have sex with him so that he would not beat me to death.
“My lord, we lived in eight different houses in the 13 years we lived together because our landlord always sent us packing.
“He was asked to write an undertaking never to harass, fight or destroy my wares.
“He did but still failed to change.
“He has not stopped abusing and raining curses on me on the phone.
“My lord, I beg this honourable court, apart from dissolving our marriage to make him responsible for the upkeep and education of our children.
“I also appeal to the court to stop him from coming to my house and shop to fight and destroy my goods,” the plaintiff stated.
Saheed while pleading his case said, “I beseech this honourable court to help me appeal to my wife not to divorce me. If she does, our children will suffer.”
He further stated: “It is true I drink, but I have stopped doing that.
“I have also stopped beating her.
“But if her mind is made up on leaving me, I pray the court will grant me custody of our first child who is a male and 141/2 years old. He is in JSS3 and needs to be groomed as a man.
“I will give our twins N12, 000 for their upkeep, but won’t be responsible for their transportation to and from school.
Ruling, the court president, Mrs S.M Akintayo ordered the defendant to stop calling the plaintiff on the phone and also restrained him from going to her house and shop to fight.
Both were admonished to maintain peace.
