middle-aged woman, Sophia Arapogun, has prayed an Agege customary court
to dissolve her 11-year-old marriage because her husband, Patrick,
abandoned her for two years.
Mrs Arapogun, who lives with her husband and his six children from his previous marriage, said he never asked her how she fed.
“My husband buys foodstuffs for his children and asks them to keep
them in their room. He never asked what I needed at a particular moment
and we lived together,” she said.
The petitioner said her husband came home at a time to sprinkle
something that looked like blood all over the house, adding that she
worked as a clerical officer in her husband’s hospital.
She said: “I used to package melon to sell in neighbouring markets
but since my husband didn’t like the idea, he employed me in his
hospital. There was a day I took N300 to take passport photograph, he
shouted at me in the presence of his children and I felt humiliated. I
was more shocked when he made sure I refunded the money.”
She is seeking an accommodation from him as compensation if her petition is granted.
Patrick said he married her because he heard a pathetic story about
her, adding: “I asked if she had any evil spirit or medical problems
which didn’t make her conceive during her two previous marriages but she
said no; then I married her.”
The respondent, a doctor, said after their marriage, he discovered
that three minutes after making love to her, he got a knock on his head.
“Not only did I get a knock, whenever I had the intention of sleeping
with her, I would discover rashes on my manhood or my manhood would be
twisted. At times, I would not get erection or my sperm ceases. Since
then, I became afraid of everything,” Arapogun said.
He said his hospital crumbled after his wife began to work with him, adding that she stole money on several occasions.
“When we lived together, there were times my wife left the bedroom
and returned in the morning without any explanation. Our union is bad
omen. I have suffered from swollen legs, slight stroke and it was when I
realised my wife defecates in the bucket I used to bathe that I decided
to leave with my children because I was not ready to die young and I
don’t know what was going to happen next,” he said. The couple has no
issue.
President of the court, Pa Adekunle Williams, ordered the petitioner
to maintain the peace and adjourned the matter till July 13 for further
hearing.
culled from Tribune