A 39-year-old housewife, name given as Yemisi Akinwunmi, has told a customary court sitting in Agege, Lagos, how her husband ordered her to kneel down and stretch forth her hands before flogging her. Yemisi is seeking to end her 20-year-old marriage and free her from the pangs of daily corporal punishment meted out to her by the husband.
She told the court, “My husband constantly beats me and whenever he wants to do so, he tells me to kneel down and stretch my hands like a pupil before caning me.
“He often threatens to kill me.” She said there is no love between them anymore.
She said her husband of 20 years was an irresponsible man, who had refused to take proper care of her and the children. She explained further, “I made efforts to secure a loan for my husband from a cooperative bank to start a small business with a promise by him to pay back in installments.
“But after a few months, he refused to pay and attempts to get him to refund the money were unsuccessful. “My husband started threatening to kill me and dispose of my corpse without anybody knowing. “I am fed up with the marriage; there is no love between us again. “I can no longer bear the pains and humiliations.”
She prayed the court to dissolve the marriage and compel the respondent to be responsible for the welfare and education of the children. However, the respondent, 49-year-old Wasiu, while denying the allegations, told the court that the petitioner, “Became promiscuous when I lost my job.”
He also pleaded with the court not to dissolve the marriage. Wasiu said he had caught his wife in the act of adultery, adding, ”My wife later told me that she was fed up with the union and she moved out of the house with the children sometime in 2015.
“However, after much pleading, she returned home later in 2016 only to start engaging in adultery; I have caught her on several occasions. “She stopped cooking for me since July 2016 and finally moved out of the house.” President of the court invited the estranged couple to his chambers for a possible resolution of the crisis and later adjourned the case to April 11.
