A trader and mother of four, Mrs Abayomi Suleiman, on Tuesday told a Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan that her estranged husband, Muideen tricked her into moving out of her matrimonial home.
Ayobami, who made the claim in a counter-argument before Chief Ademola Odunade the court’s President, said that her husband lied that his bank repossessed the house they were living in, following his inability to pay a loan.
“He sent me out of his house to seek refuge with my parents due to his usual hostility.
“I am better off living alone with my children elsewhere than staying in a miserable marriage with Muideen.
“After Muideen saw that the four children I gave birth to were girls, he systematically married another wife which I never opposed.
“Before bringing her in, however, Muideen tricked the children and I that he was indebted to a financial institution and that his inability to pay back the remaining N500, 000 meant that the bank will take over our house,” she said.
She also alleged that he forced her to have an abortion because he feared that she might give birth to another girl.
“With four children and his relatives he never gave me more than N200 a day for feeding.
“My lord, one of his customers told me that Muideen makes nothing less than N100, 000. He does not pay the children’s school fees.
In his defence, Muideen, a cement dealer said that his wife abandoned him for four years.
He also claimed that the respondent does not want his children to acquire Koranic education, in spite of his effort.
“We are no longer together and I wasn’t responsible for her exit from my home. Please grant me custody of my four children,” Muideen begged the court.
In his judgment, Odunade dissolved the marriage and held that the couple have completely lost interest in each other.
He awarded custody of the children to Ayobami and ordered Muideen to pay N20, 000 as the children’s monthly upkeep.
The Arbitrator, however, berated the petitioner’s actions and described him as a wicked man who should not be emulated in any manner.
NAN
