A divorce-seeking man, Abayomi Oreyemi, has prayed a Mapo Grade A Customary Court in Ibadan to dissolve his 22-year-old union to his estranged wife, Basirat, on ground of battery and waywardness.

Oreyemi, a father of four, made the prayer in his counter- argument against his wife’s allegation of irresponsibility, lack of love and domestic violence.

He said that he had reported his wife to her relatives in her Igbo-Ora hometown without any positive outcome.

“At around 9.30 p.m. on a particular night, a man called Baba Aliya, who I later got to know as her concubine, came to drop Basirat in my house with his car.

“I confronted them and demanded to know what they were doing together, but Basirat hauled insults on me and even tore my dress.

“The following morning, she arrested me with the police and it was not until I explained everything to them that the police released me from detention.

“Aside that day, I had met the two of them together in my matrimonial home before, and in fact they beat me on account of my curiosity.

“My lord, I don’t want her to bear Oreyemi again and I prefer to take custody of my children,” he pleaded.

Earlier, Basirat, the petitioner who earned her livelihood as a civil servant, told the court that her husband had never demonstrated any capacity that he truly loved and care for her.

She said that Oreyemi did not show her any kind of consolation when she lost her two parents on separate occasions.

“He simply said that he couldn’t afford the transportation to Igbo-Ora.

“As if that was not enough, Oreyemi manifested his irresponsibility when I delivered our second child, as he was nowhere to be found.

“For our first child, it was my mother that paid the hospital bills.

“Worst still, he beats my younger sister and I at any slightest opportunity.

“Furthermore, since our landlord expelled us from our apartment, I was forced to live with a close friend.

“Also, since our children started schooling, Oreyemi has contributed nothing to their education and I’ve been solely responsible for their sustenance.

“He even broke into my bedroom during the last Eid festival when I travelled to my hometown,” Basirat said.

She tendered evidence of the damaged door before the court.

Basirat also said that there was no valid marriage between both of them, as Oreyemi did not pay the necessary bride price to her parents.

Delivering judgment, the court’s President, Mrs S.M. Akintayo, held that there was no marriage to be dissolved between the petitioner and the respondent, because there was no evidence of valid marriage between them.

According to Akintayo, for any union to be considered as a valid marriage, there must be presentation of bride price, formal handover of the bride to the husband and presentation of gifts.

She, however, awarded custody of the four children to the petitioner.

Akintayo ordered Oreyemi to be paying N25,000 monthly for the children’s upkeep.

The court president also granted the order restraining Oreyemi from threatening, harassing and interfering with the private life of Basirat. (NAN)