In Igando Customary Court yesterday dissolved the 23-year marriage between 50-year-old herbalist Idris Ibrahim and his wife, Opeyemi. The defendant had accused the wife of sleeping with their son.
Opeyemi told court that her husband, Idris, defamed her by spreading a rumour that she was having an affair with their second son.
She said: “How will I sleep with my son when I am not under a spell. My husband is embarrassing me everywhere, telling all who care to listen that I am having sex with our son.”
But the defendant insisted that his wife slept with their son.
Idris alleged: “My mother told me that she caught my wife sleeping with our 19-year-old son. I believed her because she could not lie.”
Opeyemi, a 47-year-old trader, accused her husband of being fetish.
“There was a day I woke up around 3am, my spirit told me to go to my children’s room. When I got there, I saw my husband and his mother covering our youngest son with a red cloth.
“I shouted and they quickly removed the cloth and ran out of the room. But for my quick intervention, who knows what they wanted to use the boy for,” she alleged.
The mother of four said her husband turned her and the children into a punching bag.
“My husband is in the habit of beating me and the children.
“There was a day he hit me with a broom and it took days for my children to remove the crumbs of broom from my body.
“He is hostile to our children. He punished them by torturing them as if he is not their father,” she said.
Opeyemi said her husband was fond of sending her packing from her matrimonial home.
Idris said he beat her up whenever she erred, adding that she goes out at will and returns any time she likes.
He told the court to grant his wife her wish, saying he too was no longer interested in the marriage.
Delivering judgment, the court President, Mr. Adeniyi Koledoye, said it appeared that the estranged couple were tired of the marriage as re-conciliatory efforts had failed.
He granted custody of the last two children, who are minors, to the petitioner “until they become mature to decide where to stay.”
Koledoye ordered Idris to pay N10, 000 monthly for the feeding of the children, adding that he should be responsible for their education and general welfare.