Man begs court to dissolve 17 year old marriage due to constant beating by wife

Unable to endure any further beatings from his wife, a civil servant, Odule Titus, has pleaded with an Orile Agege Customary Court in Lagos State to dissolve his 17-year-old union to his wife, Eniola, for frequently beating him.

He said his life was no longer safe in the same home with his wife.

Titus, 63, who lives at 54, George Tiene Crescent, Hilltop Estate, Alimosho, told the court that his wife is a violent, destructive and aggressive woman.

“This is the third year I have packed out of the house because of her violent acts. She stabs me at every opportunity,” he said.

According to Titus, his wife started misbehaving in 2010 when she stabbed him with a broken bottle during one of their arguments.

He said, “

On January 10, 2010, she confessed that she had extra-marital affair with a young man, whose alias was Okadigbo. She hit me with a bottle and I was admitted to Bethel Hospital, Alimosho,” he said.
“I saw Okadigbo come out of my apartment under the pretence of coming from night vigil, I asked my wife and she denied that anything happened that day.
“I travelled to Ondo State on February 5, 2016 and came back unannounced later at night and saw a man in his boxers inside my apartment, I allowed him to go. My wife threatened me with a bottle but I was rescued by my neighbours.
“This same Okadigbo bathed naked outside our house while my wife watched as she set up her stand,” he said.

Titus also claimed that he could not have sexual intercourse with his wife due to no erection.

He said,

 “I wanted to make love to my wife one night. I tried from 10pm to 5am but I could not have an erection. But when I made love to another woman, I could perform properly. Obviously, something was wrong.”

Titus pleaded that the court dissolve their marriage because of frequent fights and his wife’s alleged adultery.

But Eniola, a 39-year-old trader, denied all allegations.

She claimed that her husband only gave her N10,000 monthly allowance for her feeding along with their four children.

She said,

“He does not give our children money for clothes. He is jealous of things I own especially when it’s new and believes I’m adulterous,” she said.

Eniola claimed that her husband was not caring enough and did not carry out his responsibilities as a husband in the house.

She said, “My husband beats me regularly with a cane. He drinks a lot of alcohol and vomits all the time. He fornicates with young girls. I paid the school fees of our children, though he paid back. Every argument generates a fight and he threatened to kill me because he is a herbalist.”

The Ado Ekiti indigene also denied that she had an affair with their neighbour.

She said,
“He only came to use the toilet in our house when he came back from church that night.
“The night he claimed that he could not get an erection, we had sexual intercourse, he made love to me and ejaculated too. I am not a destructive wife as he claimed.”

Eniola pleaded that she still loved her husband but if he wanted their union dissolved, their landed property must be divided too.

There was a mild drama on the premises of the court when the couple started fighting each other before the court sitting, prompting security men to send them out of the compound.

Punch correspondent witnessed as the woman threatened to kill Titus while he threatened to kill her as well.

They were later remanded for 24 hours for breach of the peace as the President told their lawyers to sign undertakings that they would maintain peace.

The President, Dr S.O Whenu adjourned the case till Tuesday, April 11, 2017 for proceedings.


Punch