A Grade A Customary Court sitting at Mapo in Ibadan, on Friday, dissolved the eight-year-old marriage between one Olatunji Jimoh and his estranged wife, Mariam, on the grounds of frequent interference by wife’s father.
Delivering judgment, the court President, Mrs O.E. Owoseni, held that the marriage is dissolved in the interest of peace and order.
Owoseni further held that the out-of-court settlement adopted by both parties, yielded no positive result, as the duo remained resolute in dissolution.
“Therefore, the marriage between Jimoh and Mariam has ceased to be in the interest of peaceful living.
“Custody of the two children produced by the union is granted to the respondent because they are still in their tender ages so as to protect their interest.
“However, the petitioner is granted a reasonable access to the children if he would be personally available to see them.
“Jimoh shall pay a monthly feeding allowance of N100,000 for the children’s upkeep, in addition to being responsible for their education and other welfare.
“He shall also be responsible for the payment of the three bedroom flat apartment where Mariam and the children resides.
“Lastly, Mariam is restrained from harassing, threatening, interfering and insulting the petitioner henceforth,” the court held
Meanwhile, the court had admitted in evidence, the marriage certificate tendered by the respondent to buttress her points.
The petitioner had earlier told the court that he filed the suit to dissolve his union with his wife, following alleged undue control on his matrimonial home by his father-in-law
He noted that all efforts at changing the toxic situation of things failed as his father-in-law kept interfering in their union.
“When we met in 2017, there was no customary marriage between us because she got pregnant for me and we started living together.
“Mariam stopped living with me in Ado-Ekiti and moved to a house provided for her by her father in Ibadan.
“I called her that I wanted the children to spend sometime with me in Ado-Ekiti and she agreed with me.
“However, she neither picked my calls nor attended to me with the children when I got to Ibadan, and I returned to Ado-Ekiti empty handed.
“Since 2023, I have been responsible for the children’s educational needs and other welfare, but I stopped sending her money when she started denying me access to them,” Jimoh had claimed.
Meanwhile, the respondent had in response, urged the court to dismiss all arguments presented by the petitioner, on the grounds that they were false.
“My lord, Jimoh is a very busy person; he doesn’t have the time to cater for the children.
“I have been responsible for their feeding which gulps N100,000 on a monthly basis and has even increased now,” she had said
The respondent had urged the court to compel the petitioner to pay the balance of accommodation, feeding and children’s school fees, which she owed.
The respondent had also tendered documents showing that she was duly married to the petitioner, contrary to the petitioner’s argument that they were merely cohabiting.
-NAN
