Court dissolves eight-year-old marriage over wife’s brutalisation

Alleged brutalisation of a woman by her husband attracted sanction by an Idi-Ogungun Customary Court sitting at Agodi, Ibadan, on Wednesday as the eight-year-old loveless marriage was dissolved.
The union between Abayomi Idowu and his wife, Adekemi, was pronounced a nullity over complaints of brutality and lack of care by the estranged wife.
Adekemi had approached the bar for the dissolution of her marriage on the grounds that her husband denied her access to the only child of the union and constant battering.
“Idowu has failed to take care of me and the only child of the marriage.
“He is not a responsible husband because I shouldered the responsibilities alone, I even feed and clothe him.
“I managed to cope with him until he started beating me and would not hesitate to hit me with anything he sees.
“So I packed out of his house when I realised that he wanted to kill me,” she told the court.
“I urge the court to dissolve the marriage and order him (the man) to allow me access to my child.”
Chief Mukaila Balogun, the President of the court, noted that the defendant was not in court to state his own side of the story in spite of several summonses.
“The court has no choice than to uphold the request of the plaintiff (the wife),” he said, ordering the defendant to allow Adekemi access to her child.
He directed the court’s registrar to send a copy of the judgment to the ex-husband.