A Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan, on Friday dissolved a 22-year-old marriage between a bricklayer, Lateef Rufai and Filicia on grounds of frequent nagging.
Delivering judgment, Ademola Odunade, President of the Court held that he dissolved the marriage to forestall a situation that might result into loss of life.
He however, awarded custody of the first three children produced by the union to the petitioner and allowed the respondent to go with the last because he is still very young.
The arbitrator ordered Lateef to pay N5,000 as the child’s monthly feeding allowance.
He also ordered Lateef to pay N12,000 to enable Filicia pay for accommodation and another N5,000 to move her things.
Testifying earlier, Rufai who resides in Ologuneru area of Ibadan lamented that his wife capitalised on his physical challenge to inflict more pains on him.
”I am swamped with the reports of how Filicia beats my neighbours. In fact, we were forced to move out of our rented apartment as a result.
“The situation was the same when we moved into our own house. Filicia has considerably slowed down my progress in life because she keeps frustrating the opportunities in my business; that is driving away my customers.
However, Filicia objected to the dissolution and denied all the allegations leveled against her.
She told the court that she had nowhere to go because no one from her family ever separated from their husbands.
“I have shown my husband love until his first wife moved back into the house. I also stayed by my husband’s side when he had an accident that led to his physical challenge.
“Besides, I have suffered depression. All that Lateef wants to do is to sell his second house in Ilesa Town where my children and I live, to leave me hopeless and in extreme poverty.
“I don’t fight with people,” Filicia said. (NAN
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