An Ikorodu Customary Court in Lagos, on Friday dissolved a 30-year-old marriage between a Civil Servant, Virginia Ugwuja and her husband, Emmanuel, a retired police officer, over irreconcilable differences.
The 49-year-old petitioner told the court that her estranged husband, who is a pastor, accused her of being possessed by an โevil spiritโ.
โSince he heard from the church that I possessed an evil spirit, he started denying me conjugal rights and abandoned me and our eight children, five years ago.
โHe also gave the two houses we jointly owned to his church ( The Lordโs Chosen Charismatic Church ), saying that the buildings belonged to God,โโ Virginia said.
The petitioner, who resides at Odun Ifa Str., Adeniji Adele, Lagos, had in 2017 sought the dissolution of the marriage over allegations of abandonment, denial of conjugal rights and irresponsibility.
She accused the respondentโs church of being the originator of the problems in their marriage.
Virginia said that prophecies from the church accusing her of possessing an evil spirit were responsible to the disaffection between her and her husband.
In his response, the 54-year-old husband admitted the petitionerโs allegations and asked the court to dissolve the union.
Dissolving the marriage, the Court President, Mrs Funmi Adeola, said that it had broken down irretrievably as evidence from the couple have proved that there was no more love in the union.
Adeola said that the husbandโs church contributed greatly to the break down of the marriage.
โIt is obvious that there is no more love in the union, since evidence shows that the two houses built by the couple were donated to the church by the husband.
โHaving left the house and accusing your wife of possessing an evil spirit, you are hereby ordered to pay your wife all the expenses she has spent on your eight children.
โThe husband is to refund the childrenโs school fees of N400, 000.00, hospital bills of N235, 000.00, a feeding allowance of N350, 000.00 and a house rent of N900, 000.00, while he was away from home.
โYou are also ordered to pay N20, 000 monthly as feeding allowance for the last two children who are below age 18,โโ she ruled.
Adeola ordered the respondent to return one of the houses given to the church to his wife, as they were jointly built in their names.
She, however, ruled that any violation of the court order will be severely punished by the provision of the Law.
โAnyone who is not satisfied with the ruling of this court is free to seek advice from a higher court after 30 days,โ she said.
