A Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan on Tuesday dissolved a 33-year-old
marriage over the claim of threat to life made by a retired civil
servant, Mr Jimoh Babatunde, against his wife, Jelilat.
Babatunde told
the court presided over by Mr Henric Agbaje that Jelilat had made two
attempts on his life and had even confessed to killing one of their four
children.
“My lord, Jelilat confessed to have killed one of our
four children in order to eventually eliminate me for reasons which I
cannot actually tell. “Secondly, she put some stuff into my food
recently to hypnotise and make me be in servitude to her,’’ the
petitioner said. He said that his estranged wife had also tarnished his
image and made him a laughing stock in their area.
Babatunde also
described Jelilat as insolent, disobedient and lacked any care for him
and his children. “I did all I could to change her for the better by
talking to her and reporting her to her parents, but nothing came out of
it. “Now, she wants to sniff life out of me,” Babatunde said. However,
Jelilat opposed the dissolution of the marriage and denied the
allegations made by her husband.
The respondent said that if the
marriage was dissolved, she had nowhere to go and desired to remain the
mother of her children in her matrimonial home. Jelilat pleaded with the
court not to dissolve the union and promised to turn a new leaf. Ruling
on the divorce petition, Agbaje held that it was clear that the
relationship between Jimoh and Jelilat had turned sour and was
irreconcilable.
“The court frowns at any case of threat to life
as the one currently been witnessed. “It is abundantly clear that there
is something cruel about Jelilat’s disposition, otherwise, no man would
want to part ways with a 33-year-old union. “In the interest of peaceful
coexistence, the court has put an end to the union between both of you.
“Jelilat
shall take custody of the last child aged eight years old and Babatunde
shall pay N12,000 for accommodation and an addition N5,000 for the
movement of Jelilat’s belongings,” he said.